Lansdown Announcement A Win for Townsville's Economy
14 March 2022: Lansdown Announcement A Win for Townsville's Economy
Solar Citizens today celebrates the Federal Labor Opposition announcement that they’ll allocate $22 million to help establish the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct and kick-start local renewable manufacturing.
“North Queensland has all the key ingredients to become a leader in renewable manufacturing and hydrogen production, including some of the country’s best solar and wind resources, critical mineral deposits in the North West Minerals Province and a skilled local workforce,” said Stephanie Gray, Energy Strategist at Solar Citizens.
“If the Lansdown Precinct goes ahead it will create more than 6,000 ongoing local jobs in solar panel manufacturing, minerals processing and renewable hydrogen production.
“This extra federal funding is essential to build the infrastructure that will make the site plug in ready for new manufacturing projects. Without this federal investment there’s a risk that these projects will find a different location to set up shop.
“Now it’s up to Herbert MP Phillip Thompson to match this funding so no matter what happens on polling day Townsville is positioning itself for long-term economic prosperity.”
This announcement comes after research from the Victorian Hydrogen Hub found Northern Queensland is the cheapest location to produce hydrogen made from renewable energy because of the region’s world-class solar and wind resources.
Modelling from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) shows a staggering 20,400 MW of new solar and wind farms are expected to be built in Queensland by 2030 if the Sunshine State becomes a renewable hydrogen superpower. According to Solar Citizens, this would create 30,000 solar and wind farm construction jobs and 1,800 ongoing jobs in renewable energy operations and maintenance by 2030.
