Plans to farm sunshine in Millmerran - ABC Local

"We're calling it the Bulli Creek Solar Farm," says Angus Gemmell, Managing Director of Solar Choice.

Gemmell has an application before the Toowoomba Regional Council to build the farm close to the existing power substation.

"It's one of the largest substations in the country," Gemmell says. "We're yet to commence the grid connection feasibility studies...But being such a large substation...it could potentially take a solar farm in the many hundreds of megawatts, potentially up to one gigawatt."

Gemmell says Millmerran is an optimal location for a solar farm.

"There's not too many sub-stations that size west of the Great Divide where the sunshine hours are more optimal."

"There are three cattle graziers already signed up to the project. Having land that is broad acre, cleared, and where there's no ecological constraints, as well as the fact there's no neighbours overlooking the property, are all conducive to solar farming at this scale."

"It's always hard in Australia, because our coal is so much cheaper than in places like Japan, but solar farms are steadily and readily catching up to coal in terms of being able to provide a reliable source of power," Gemmell says.

Darren Gladman from the Clean Energy Council says "we've seen a revolution in energy generation in the last few years, and that's laregly been driven by a massive cost reduction in the price of solar panels."

Gladman says solar "is within striking distance of being economically competitive with fossil fuels. While power from solar panels is still more expensive than say a coal-fired power station, it's getting to the point where we're almost competitive."

"We would expect in this decade where large-scale solar farms can compete head-to-head with gas and coal to supply wholesale electricity to the grid," Gladman says.