Mipela assist Luminous Energy in planning solar farms in Queensland

Farming in Australia is in a state of turmoil. Many farmers are saddled with unsustainably high debts and are hit by unstable crop prices. Extreme weather events, from mass flooding in 2011 to intolerable droughts in 2014, exacerbate the difficulties faced by Australian farmers. By diversifying into solar generation, farmers can regulate their annual income and secure their finances.

Luminous Energy specialises in the planning and development of large-scale photovoltaic power plants, from initial site selection to connection and commissioning. They organise the development of solar farms, taking projects from initial site selection up to the point at which they are ready to be built.

Luminous recently sought assistance from Mipela with data management and mapping support to produce plans suitable for property agreements and site constraint mapping for three proposed solar farm sites in Queensland.

As part of the planning and development process, Luminous are required to submit site development plans to local council and plans to accompany ecological assessments to State and Federal Government. With the decision makers being geographically spread between Australia and the UK rapid revisions of mapping was required. Having someone experienced on the ground who can interpret requirements and turn the work around in a timely manner like Mipela has been critical to the project so far. This well managed revision process has resulted in better project delivery with quickly delivered result in an effective manner.