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Kidston I

Solar power plant in Queensland, Australia. Approximate location -18.89, 144.14.

SolarQueenslandAustralia

Kidston I is a 50 MW solar power plant in Queensland, Australia. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 21,274 homes (estimated). It ranks #238 of 512 Australia power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 19.6% of Australia's electricity; the national grid averages 525 gCO₂/kWh (38.6% low-carbon) (2025).

50MW installed capacity
21,274homes powered (est.)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WKS0066503.

Capacity vs largest solar plants in Australia

Haughton River Solar Farm: 500 MW500Haughton R…Sunraysia: 200 MW200SunraysiaHayman Solar Farm: 180 MW180Hayman Sol…Ross River: 148 MW148Ross RiverWilpena Solar Farm: 145 MW145Wilpena So…Clare Solar Farm: 130 MW130Clare Sola…Rollingstone QLD: 125 MW125Rollingsto…Sun Metals Solar Farm: 124 MW124Sun Metals…

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Local climate & thermal context

This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a hot semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSh) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 18.9°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

22.9°Cannual mean temp
49heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,821cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
590 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 27 °CJF: 26 °CFM: 25 °CMA: 23 °CAM: 20 °CMJ: 18 °CJJ: 17 °CJA: 19 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 24 °CON: 26 °CND: 27 °CD27 °C

Heating degree-days here run 98% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 14/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 0.7% at warm-season highs here (estimate).

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #34 largest solar power plant of 69 in Australia by capacity.

Australia has 69 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 4,160 MW of capacity.

Location

Coordinates -18.89, 144.14 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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