Ark Energy has secured a financial investment decision (FID) for its AU$1.3 billion Richmond Valley solar-plus-storage project in Australia.
Ark Energy has reached a final investment decision on its Richmond Valley hybrid solar and battery energy storage project in New South Wales, marking the first build-to-own development in the company’s portfolio to achieve this milestone. Financial close is scheduled for September 2026, with construction set to start the following month and commercial operations targeted for January 2029. The company completed the project’s development phase over four years.
New South Wales planning approval was received in October 2025, followed by federal environmental clearance under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act in December 2025. Grid connection approvals from the Australian Energy Market Operator and Transgrid were secured in June 2026. The project is noted as one of the first hybrid solar-plus-storage initiatives in the National Electricity Market to function through a single connection point employing grid-forming inverter technology.
The approved project design includes 435 megawatts of solar capacity and a 475 megawatt / 3,148 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system. It holds a long-term energy service agreement under the New South Wales Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap and appears on the Australian government’s National Renewable Energy Priority List. South Korean firm Hanwha Energy will supply the battery system, while Elecnor Australia has been appointed as the early contractor for engineering and design work.
Ark Energy CEO Michael Choi stated that the decision demonstrated strong support from Korea Zinc. The project is projected to create more than 850 direct and indirect jobs at peak construction and contribute around AU$180 million in local spending.
Separately, Australian infrastructure investor Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has referred a 150-megawatt solar photovoltaic development in Queensland for assessment under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Brisbane-based renewable energy developer Private Energy Partners is responsible for the Lansdown Solar West project, situated approximately 4 to 6 kilometres southwest of Woodstock and 40 kilometres south of Townsville.
Construction is planned to commence in January 2028, with operations extending through 2060. The facility will feature a solar array of up to 150 megawatts alternating current, a co-located battery energy storage system with 250 megawatts peak power output and eight hours of storage duration, a 33/275 kilovolt substation, and a 30-metre-wide transmission line linking to Powerlink Queensland’s existing 275-kilovolt double circuit line between Strathmore and Ross.
The development covers about 534 hectares in total, with a physical disturbance area of 155 hectares. The site has previously been used for cattle grazing and consists mainly of cleared and modified vegetation, along with patches of remnant woodland and riparian areas near Lansdowne Creek. It aims to deliver renewable energy to the Northern Quartz Campus within the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct, supporting the conversion of Queensland-mined quartz into high-purity silicon for solar modules and semiconductors.
The solar project would enhance available network capacity and supply baseload and firming power to the campus. It is positioned between the proposed Lansdown Solar North facility, which could generate up to 400 megawatts, and the Northern Quartz Campus.
The referral joins an expanding list of Queensland solar and storage projects undergoing federal environmental review, as the EPBC Act framework undergoes reform. The Environment Protection Reform Act 2025, enacted in November 2025, established a streamlined 30-business-day assessment process for non-fossil-fuel projects and shifted the offsets standard from “no net loss” to “net gain.”
The Clean Energy Investor Group has urged the federal government to ensure consistent and prompt rollout of the updated framework, noting that key elements such as National Environmental Standards and the “net gain” definition are still being developed ahead of full implementation in December 2026. Processing times under the existing system have differed, with some projects receiving clearances rapidly, including a 75-megawatt solar-plus-storage facility in Western Australia approved within four weeks and a 450-megawatt solar project with 3,600 megawatt-hours of storage in Queensland cleared in February 2026.
Originally reported by PV Tech on Jul 24, 2026.
