European Energy has secured planning approval from the Gladstone Regional Council for its 1.1 GW Upper Calliope Solar Farm near Gladstone in Queensland, marking a major regulatory milestone that materially reduces development risk and advances the project toward investment readiness.
With planning approval now in place, the project has progressed into an advanced stage of development, enabling European Energy to move forward with final design, grid connection processes, and construction planning. Construction of the solar farm is targeted to begin in 2026.
Located on a 2,700-hectare site approximately 50 kilometres southwest of Gladstone, the Upper Calliope Solar Farm is expected to generate around 2.8 TWh of electricity annually, equivalent to about 5% of Queensland’s current power demand. Once operational, it is expected to become the largest solar project in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM). The project benefits from proximity to existing transmission infrastructure and a well-established industrial load centre.
The project is fully contracted under a 25-year power purchase agreement with global mining and materials company Rio Tinto, under which the solar farm’s entire output will supply electricity to Rio Tinto’s aluminium smelting and alumina refining operations in Queensland, particularly in the Gladstone region. The long-term offtake agreement provides revenue visibility and underpins the project’s commercial structure.
“With planning approval now in place, we can move ahead with the Upper Calliope project, one of the largest developments European Energy has undertaken to date. It’s an exciting and important step, and our experienced team will now move on to the next phase of development,” said Catriona McLeod, Vice President and Country Manager, Australia.
With both planning approval and federal environmental approvals secured, the remaining development milestones include grid connection finalisation, procurement activities, and final investment decisions.
“Securing planning approval materially advances the Upper Calliope project and reduces execution risk. Together with the long-term contracted offtake, the project now represents a permitted, utility-scale solar asset with defined revenue characteristics, one of the largest of its kind,” said Thorvald Spanggaard, Executive Vice President and Head of Project Development at European Energy.
The Upper Calliope Solar Farm forms part of European Energy’s expanding Australian renewable energy pipeline, which now exceeds 5 GW of capacity. The company recently commissioned its first Australian photovoltaic project, the 58 MW Mokoan Solar Farm in Victoria, completed panel installation at the 106 MW Lancaster Solar Farm in northern Victoria, and is progressing construction on the 31 MW Mulwala Solar Farm in New South Wales. Additional pipeline projects include the 1 GW Sawpit and 500 MW Leichardt solar farms in Queensland, as well as the 100 MW Winton North solar project in Victoria.
Electrify your feed! Click here to join our Whatsapp group and to get the latest updates, expert insights, and innovations driving India’s energy storage revolution.
