The project was bought from North Queensland Renewable Energy Zone and has been planned on a proposed 200 wind turbines, although Iberdrola has made no public commitment to that.

The Hughenden site benefits from favourable wind and solar and was sparsely populated.

“Iberdrola believes this region will play a major role in delivering Queensland’s 50 per cent renewables by 2030 target and also has the potential for major hub for green hydrogen and a green material export corridor,” the company said.

“In this context, the Mount James wind farm development site is now one of the foundation assets of Iberdrola Australia’s green energy growth strategy in Queensland.”

Hughenden is also in the proposed path of the CopperString transmission project, which would allow electricity from Mount James to connect to the national energy market.

“As almost 25 gigawatts of ageing baseload coal generation exits the national electricity market, significant investment in replacement generation capacity will be required,” Iberdrola said.

An application for development approval has been submitted and ecological surveys have been completed.

Iberdrola Australia managing director Ross Rolfe said the investment at Mount James was part of a much broader strategic commitment to the Queensland market.

This included a much broader suite of renewable energy products and technologies.

“This will provide Queenslanders with many opportunities arising from the energy transition,” he said.