OX2 Charts Sunshine State Solar Future With Rollingstone Hybrid Hub

Jul 17, 2025 02:57 PM ET
  • OX2 plans a 150-MW solar farm with 256 MWh battery in Rollingstone, Queensland—powering 55 000 homes and bolstering the state’s 2032 renewable target.

Rollingstone, a sleepy stretch of mango orchards an hour north of Townsville, is poised to gain a very bright neighbour. Swedish developer OX2 has filed plans for the Sunshine State Solar Farm, a 150-MWdc photovoltaic array paired with a two-hour, 128 MW/256 MWh battery system—enough hardware to keep the lights on long after the tropical sun dips behind the ranges.

The project layout, lodged this week under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, kicks off a federal review and a public-comment window that runs until 30 July. Approval would clear the way for construction across 186 hectares of grazing land, with a 132-kV spur linking the farm directly to Queensland’s main grid. OX2 estimates an 18-month build, eyeing full commissioning in 2029.

Numbers alone tell an upbeat story. When the trackers are spinning, the installation should pump out clean electricity for roughly 55,000 homes and prevent about 200,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year—equivalent to taking 45,000 cars off the Bruce Highway. The battery will soak up surplus noon-day power and return it to the grid at dusk, smoothing demand spikes and making better use of existing transmission.

But the proposal also feels tailor-made for Queensland’s wider ambitions: 70 % renewable energy by 2032 and net-zero emissions by 2050. Local planners view hybrid sites like Rollingstone as the next logical step, combining generation and storage in one footprint to sidestep land constraints and shave development timelines. The state has more than 5 GW of large-scale solar online, yet only a fraction currently includes on-site batteries.

For OX2, Sunshine State Solar marks its first greenfield venture since buying Melbourne-based ESCO Pacific in 2023. The move signalled an aggressive Australian push by the Stockholm-listed group, better known in Europe for gigawatt-scale onshore wind. Company director Matilda Åberg says the Rollingstone farm will “anchor a pipeline of integrated projects that can deliver round-the-clock renewable power for North Queensland’s industry and households.”

Assuming regulators wave the project through, cleantech contractors could descend on Rollingstone as early as 2027, bringing hundreds of jobs and new income streams for surrounding cattle stations. Locals may soon trade anecdotes about errant wallabies for talk of megawatts and megawatt-hours—proof that the sun-soaked frontier is warming to an energy future built on its most abundant, reliable resource.