A renewable energy developer has unveiled plans for one of the largest solar projects yet proposed for the Tropical North, with a 180-megawatt solar farm earmarked for grazing land on the Atherton Tablelands, inland from Cairns.
The project, dubbed the Walkamin Sun Hub by its proponent, Coral Coast Renewables, would pair a sprawling array of solar panels with a 90-megawatt battery to store energy for the evening peak. The company says the development could generate enough electricity in a year to power roughly 60,000 homes — comfortably more than the number of dwellings across the wider Tablelands region.
If approved, construction would run for about 18 months and is expected to support up to 250 jobs at its peak, with a smaller team of around a dozen kept on for long-term operations and maintenance. The developer has flagged a preference for hiring locally and training Tablelands workers in panel installation and electrical trades.
Filling a gap in the grid
Far North Queensland sits at the end of a long transmission line, and energy planners have long warned the region is exposed when demand spikes or southern supply falters. Coral Coast Renewables argues a large solar-and-storage project close to Cairns would firm up local supply, ease pressure on the network and feed into Queensland's broader push toward renewable generation.
"The Tablelands get some of the best sunlight hours in the country, and the grid connection is already nearby," said Priya Nandakumar, the company's development director. "This is about generating clean power where it is actually used, rather than shipping it a thousand kilometres up the coast."
The proposal is not without tension. The 320-hectare site is currently low-intensity grazing country, and the company says only a fraction of it carries higher-value agricultural soils. Even so, some neighbouring farmers have questioned whether productive land should be given over to panels, and want assurances that sheep grazing can continue between the rows — a practice known as agrivoltaics that the developer says it is open to.
Environmental groups have given the project a cautious early welcome while flagging the usual questions: impacts on local wildlife corridors, glare, water use during construction and what happens to the panels at the end of their life. Coral Coast Renewables has committed to a full ecological assessment and says a rehabilitation bond would cover eventual decommissioning.
Community consultation opened this week, with drop-in sessions planned at Mareeba and Atherton over the coming month. The developer must still secure planning approval and a grid connection agreement before any spades hit the ground, and concedes the timeline could stretch well into 2027.
For a region that prides itself on its reef, rainforest and clear skies, the pitch is being framed as a chance to put that abundant sunshine to work. Whether the Tablelands embraces a working solar farm on its doorstep — or pushes back — will become clearer once residents have had their say.