Renewables giant says Australia among easiest places on planet to be green and competitive
Image: Mokoan Solar Park. Source: European Energy, LinkedIn
Sophie Vorrath
Apr 23, 2025
Renewables
The global renewables giant behind the giga-scale solar farm that will help power Rio Tinto’s aluminium smelter and refineries in Queensland says Australia is one of the best places in the world to be “green and strongly competitive” at the same time.
Denmark-based European Energy has a renewables pipeline of more than 60 gigawatts (GW) across 25 international markets, around 9 GW of which is under development in Australia, including the 1,100 megawatt Upper Calliope solar project.
Upper Calliope – which is currently seeking environmental approval under the federal government’s EPBC Act – would be the biggest solar project, by far, on Australia’s main grid if built today – but it has another much more significant claim to fame.
The huge solar farm this year became one of three projects contracted by mining giant Rio Tinto to help power its Queensland smelters and refineries, in one of the three biggest renewable energy power purchase agreements Australia has seen.
European Energy CEO Knud Erik Andersen traveled to Australia in March to mark the launch of construction at the company’s 100 megawatt (MW) Lancaster Solar project in northern Victoria, switch on a solar farm in Victoria, and to meet with Rio Tinto in Queensland.
He says that while Australia is politically divided over what is the best source of energy to power industry in the future, industry has already made its choice.
“Of course, global industries would like to be part of the green agenda, but they …also would like to stay price competitive,” Andersen told Renew Economy in an interview following his Australia visit.
“And I don’t see any contradiction between being green and being competitive.
“I actually think, especially in a country like Australia, with the natural resources you have, it’s one of the countries on the planet where it’s easiest to be green and be strongly competitive at the same time.”
In Australia, European Energy completed construction of its first solar project, the 56 MW Mokoan solar park near Winton in Victoria, just last month, after reaching financial close for the project in March 2024.
In September last year the company added two shovel-ready solar projects to its development pipeline in Victoria and New South Wales, including the aforementioned Lancaster project, now underway, and the 31 MW Mulwala solar project in NSW.
As well as Upper Calliope, the company is developing the Ticoba Solar Farm, a 484 MW project proposed for Central Queensland, the 500 MW Leichardt Solar Farm under development south-west of Biloela and the 1 GW Sawpit Solar Farm, also proposed for near Biloela in Queensland.
The company has one wind project in its Australia pipeline, so far – the up to 250 MW Aldoga Wind Farm proposed for the Gladstone State Development Area in Queensland – and has plans to build more.
“In Denmark, we were born green, so to speak, many years back and, in the beginning of that journey, we were very often dependent on support from governments,” Andersen tells Renew Economy.
“But if you look at what is happening in many of our markets, we are in 25 markets, so in many of our markets it’s actually economy first, meaning that if we can deliver the lowest cost of energy, then that is important.
“So, a lot of European countries look at, okay, we want to be independent of [energy] imports, and therefore we want to have our own generation capacity.
“And on top of [having] our own generation capacity in a given country in Europe, if it is also …at the lowest cost, compared to coal-fired or nuclear whatever, then what’s not to like?”
Andersen says European Energy is also “extremely bullish on battery deployment” and plans to include storage in many of its new solar and wind projects. This goes for Australia, too, with batteries in the pipeline for the Mokoan, Ticoba, Mulwala and Lancaster solar farms.
“We are very happy with what we see …both in terms of innovation, new technologies popping up, stability of the technology and scaling. And of course, it’s extremely favorable that we go hand in hand with the [electric vehicle] industry.
“So we really have a volume industry driving the development, and we’re coming into a second wave. …Prices have really come down, and it seems that they will continue to improve.
“We have, now globally… a 15 gigawatt-hour (GWh) pipeline, and that is the highest priority right now, to simply to deploy batteries in all our markets.
“Storage will be included in many of our projects. So a lot of them will be, more or less, hybrids.”
As for the Australian market, Andersen says he’s not too concerned about the great energy policy divide that looms large over the coming federal poll.
“It’s important for us to be able to deliver affordable energy to industry and society …and we think that Australia, both in wind but also in solar and including battery, has all the components necessary to deliver on that agenda,” he tells Renew Economy.
“What will be the next phase for Australia? …I think, independent of who wins the upcoming election, I know that renewables will be able to deliver on cost, time and scale.
“And if time and scale has an importance for the citizens of Australia, then renewables will not go away …because they will deliver now, not in 10 years.”
reneweconomy.com.au |
