How much large solar is operating or in the pipeline in Western Downs?
2,458
MW of large solar farms operating or in the pipeline
QLD council area · 37,923 km²
- 66 to 132 kV
- 220 to 275 kV
- 330 kV
- 500 kV
- Operating solar farm
- In the pipeline
- Approximate location (postcode or referral area centre)
- EPBC referral area
- Operating
- 1,207 MW
- In the pipeline
- 1,251 MW
- Solar farms
- 18
Source AEMO, CER, DCCEEW EPBC referrals, Geoscience Australia · 4 Oct 2026
Solar farms
| Solar farm | Status | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Western Downs Green Power Hub | Operating | 401 MW |
| X-Elio - Sixteen Mile SF BESS (approximate location) | Proposed | 350 MW |
| Hopeland Solar Farm (approximate location) | Proposed | 328 MW |
| Columboola Solar Farm | Operating | 217 MW |
| Everleigh Solar Farm and BESS (approximate location) | Proposed | 200 MW |
| Edenvale Solar Park. | Operating | 180 MW |
| Gangarri Solar Farm | Commissioning | 162 MW |
| Bluegrass Solar Farm | Operating | 148 MW |
| Wandoan South Solar Stage 1 | Operating | 125 MW |
| Darling Downs Solar Farm | Operating | 121 MW |
| Chinchilla Solar Farm (approximate location) | Proposed | 113 MW |
| Chances Plain Solar Farm (approximate location) | Proposed | 98 MW |
| Baking Board Solar Farm Chinchilla (approximate location) | Operating | 15 MW |
| Beelbee Solar Farm and transmission connection (approximate location) | Proposed | Not published |
| Delga Solar Farm (approximate location) | Proposed | Not published |
| Dulacca Solar Farm (approximate location) | Proposed | Not published |
| Surat Gas Project (SGP) North Solar Farm (approximate location) | Proposed | Not published |
| Warhook Solar Farm (approximate location) | Proposed | Not published |
Source Geoscience Australia · 66 kV and above · From the area's centre
Nearest substations
| Substation | Voltage | Distance from area centre |
|---|---|---|
| Condabri Central | 132 kV | 15 km |
| Condabri South | 132 kV | 16 km |
| Bellevue | 132 kV | 18 km |
Source Global Solar Atlas 2.0, Solargis · Mean of 49,589 cells of about 1 km
Average solar yield
1,754 kWh per kWp a year
Yield higher than 26% of Australia’s land
Questions
What counts as in the pipeline?
In the pipeline is every farm that is commissioning, committed, anticipated or proposed (publicly announced, or referred for approval). The headline adds those to every operating farm. Withdrawn projects are not counted. A farm with no published capacity is listed but adds no MW. A farm placed at the centre of its postcode or EPBC referral area, because no source gives its own location, counts in the council area that point falls in. Here: 1,207 MW operating across 7 farms, 1,251 MW in the pipeline across 11.
What do committed and anticipated mean?
They are AEMO's stages in its Generation Information. Committed: the project has known timing and satisfies all five of AEMO's commitment criteria, or four of them with the planning or contracts criterion partly met. Anticipated: it is sufficiently progressed towards meeting at least three of the five. Publicly announced: announced, but not yet far enough along to be anticipated or committed.
Where does the data come from?
Solar farms: AEMO under its copyright permissions, with attribution; the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) under CC BY 4.0; EPBC referrals from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) under CC BY 4.0; Geoscience Australia under CC BY 4.0. Each farm is placed in the council area its point falls in, using the ABS 2025 council boundaries (CC BY 4.0). Substations: Geoscience Australia's electricity infrastructure layer (CC BY 4.0), operational substations of 66 kV and above. The substation distances are straight lines from the centre of the council area, not from any farm.
Why do some farms say approximate location?
11 farms are placed at the centre of their postcode or EPBC referral area, because no source gives their own location, so their council area is approximate. They count in the headline.
Why is a solar farm I know missing?
A farm appears here only once a public source gives its location. The sources for this area are AEMO, CER, DCCEEW EPBC referrals, Geoscience Australia. Large solar farms are grid-scale power stations. Rooftop solar is not counted.
Which of these farms also farm the land?
Agrivoltaics means farming the same land as a solar farm, usually grazing sheep under the panels. No public source found so far says sheep, cattle or crops are on site at a farm in this area. That means nothing was found, not that there is no grazing.