A huge Queensland wind and battery project has been bought up by Danish renewables giant Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, achieving the rare feat of financial close for both a Capacity Investment Scheme winner and for a hybrid renewables project under the state LNP’s strict new planning regime.
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) on Monday announced the acquisition of Gawara Baya, a wind and battery project formerly known as the Upper Burdekin wind farm that was originally developed by renewables outfit Windlab on on Gugu Badhun Country south-west of Ingham.
Located around 65 km south-west of Ingham, Gawara Baya will combine 408 megawatts (MW) of wind with a 104 megawatt “grid-forming” battery energy storage system (BESS) with about two hours of storage (217 megawatt-hours), according to EPBC documents.
In a statement issued on Monday, CIP said it has acquired 100 per cent ownership of the project from Windlab, through its Copenhagen Infrastructure V (CI V) fund. The project was given state approval in 2023 – and has not been called in by the LNP – and federal environmental approval in 2024.
The purchase gives a much-needed boost to Australia’s renewables pipeline, after a long period where wind energy projects have struggled to secure finance, despite many of them being supported by underwriting agreements under the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS).
