Projects

Solar, battery, hydrogen and data powering sustainability.

Diversified Clean Energy Project Portfolio

Featuring solar, battery, hydrogen, data, and substation projects, the Columboola Renewable Energy Hub delivers scalable renewable infrastructure supporting sustainability, advanced technology, and Australia’s clean energy transition.

  • Whitestone Energy (BESS): 250MW
  • Cornerstone Energy (BESS): 250MW
  • Daystar Energy: 100MW Solar Farm utilising 720W bifacial panels + agrivoltaics option
  • Genesis Data Centre: Hyperscale facility (green powered, ideal for AI, HPC, or Blockchain workloads)
  • Hygen Energy: 50MW Green Hydrogen Production
  • Omni Energy: 33kV/275kV Substation

Project Overviews

Daystar Energy 100MW Solar Farm

DAYSTAR ENERGY 100MW SOLAR FARM (with agrivoltaic option).

The Daystar Energy 100MW solar farm involves the construction and operation of a large-scale solar farm covering an area of 120 hectares, which will generate up to 600MWac of clean renewable energy per day 300 days/year.

The Project will utilise 720w bi-facial photovoltaic (PV) solar panels mounted in rows on a tilt axis tracking system. Solar output in our region is on average of 6hrs/day x 300 days/year.

NB: 30ha additional land available giving 150ha in total.

Agrivoltaic Option

The Agrivoltaic (hemp) option is achieved by raising the solar array up to 4m high allowing for cultivation underneath. Hemp is the ideal crop for this with its quick growing (90 days) bi/tri annual harvest and valuable by-products. It can also sequester large amounts of carbon providing carbon offsets (approx 7500TPA on the 100MW 120ha site).

There is also carbon nanotube production (Industrial Graphene) for use as concrete additive for construction (increasing tensile strength) and biochar production for soil conditioning/ rejuvenation (increased agriculture production).

NB growing hemp under the solar array can increase the efficiency of solar PV (20-30%) as it keeps panels cooler during the day (creates a micro-climate underneath the solar PV array).

500MW Battery Storage - BESS

Battery Storage for FCAS / Arbitrage / Firmed Energy Storage

The CREH project will house two x 250MW battery storage facilities (BESS). The project proponents of the two BESS facilities are Cornerstone Energy & Whitestone Energy respectively.

The BESS projects have multiple capabilities and applications such as firmed energy storage /FCAS/Arbitrage.

Having 500MW of BESS storage within 150m of major network infrastructure lends itself to accessing an AM/PM peak energy market.

There is currently an option for each 250MW BESS to  have an independent ( 275 k V) bay at the Columboola Substation.

Omni Energy - 33kV – 275kV Substation

The Omni Energy Pty Ltd Substation (OES) forms the heart of the Columboola Renewable Energy Hub CREH. The OES will Interlink the two 250MW (4h) battery projects and the 100MW solar farm together as one interchangeable utility.

The DA approved OES comprises of a 33kV substation based on the project site that connects to the Columboola substation grid infrastructure via a 275kV connection.

Having a 275kV connection to the national grid infrastructure enables large-scale load and generation possibilities for the CREH project

Columboola 132kV/275kV Substation

The Columboola Substation (CS) forms part of the National Energy Grid Network (NEGN) and comprises of both 132kV and 275kV infrastructure. The (CS) services the South East Queensland (SEQ) electricity network and is one of the main interconnector substations.

The CS infrastructure is already playing a vital role in the development of renewables in (SEQ) and is one of the key pieces of infrastructure for the Southern Queensland Renewable Energy Zone (SQREZ).

The CREH project is located within 150m of the (CS) making it not only exceptionally well positioned but giving it unparalleled ease of access to the (NEGN).

Hygen Energy – Green H2/O2

By using our solar energy to power an electrolysis process to energise the H2O, the H2 and O2 gasses can be separated and captured.

At Full production it is estimated that the Hygen Energy H2/O2 facility will produce 24,000kg/day of high grade hydrogen and 12,000Kg/day of medical grade oxygen.

This would equate to an annual production capacity of 8,7600,000Kg of hydrogen and 4,380,000Kg of Oxygen.

While Hydrogen has multiple applications in its own right ranging from a fuel source through to long duration energy storage once converted to ammonia (NH3) it also has applications in agriculture as a fertilizer and in mining as explosives

GENESIS DATA CENTER

As today’s world becomes evermore dependent, reliant and structured around data and Ai, the importance of a secure and “non-grid reliant” data facility has never been more important.

The Genesis Data Facility (GDF) is a multi-function data services facility that can incorporate data processing, data/cloud storage and is ideal for Ai/HPC services.

NB: A Carbon Free Energy (24/7 CFE) certification is being developed. This can be issued/provided as a blockchain based tokenisation/smart contract, unit of measure ($/MWH), which will be third party transferable (attached to energy).

With up to 2000MWh of energy at its disposal per day the GDF will become an essential resource for regional Queensland and Australia in meeting its data needs.