Renewable Industry Can Power 11,000 New Queensland Jobs
9 March 2020: Renewable Industry Can Power 11,000 New Queensland Jobs
Regional Queensland is well-placed to capitalise on the world’s shift to a clean economy according to a new report, which found 11,000 jobs would be up for grabs if Townsville became a renewable energy industry precinct.
The report, commissioned by community group Solar Citizens, analysed several advanced manufacturing and industry projects proposed in the Townsville region that would help underpin the world’s transition to a low carbon future.
According to the report, these projects would provide a $154 billion economic boost over their lifetime and provide over 3,950 ongoing jobs if they were powered by renewable energy projects.
“Queensland has all the ingredients for a bright economic future. We’ve got some of the world’s best solar resources that can be turned into abundant cheap electricity and key minerals needed to manufacture technology like battery storage,” said Solar Citizens’ National Director Ellen Roberts.
“Across regional Queensland there are already industry proposals that would see renewable hydrogen and battery storage materials produced right here.
“In particular Townsville and Gladstone can be thriving renewable industry hubs if all levels of government work together to facilitate projects going ahead and ensure there’s enough clean energy projects coming online to meet growing electricity demand.”
The projects analysed include the proposed Renewable Hydrogen Hub and Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct. Well over 3GW of new clean energy generation would likely be required to power these new industry projects – which is equivalent to powering 900,000 homes.
“Building out Renewable Energy Zones with solar, wind and storage is a key step towards providing around the clock cheap energy for proposed and existing industry,” said Ms Roberts.
“More renewable energy projects means more jobs, and cheaper energy that can keep new and existing manufacturing industries globally competitive.”
Many of the manufacturing proposals across North Queensland are being driven by the increasing global demand for clean technology such as battery storage for households and electric vehicles.
Queensland Pacific Metals’ proposed Townsville Energy Chemical Hub Project (TECH) is one of the industry proposals moving forward in North Queensland that would see electric vehicle battery materials produced locally. QPM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the proposed Majors Creek solar farm and they’re working with James Cook University to establish if the TECH project can be a world-first and produce almost no waste.
“Queensland Pacific Metals business is built on sustainability – our processing methodology is far superior to alternatives for the production of nickel and cobalt chemicals for lithium-ion batteries,” said CEO Stephen Grocott.
“Townsville is an ideal location to produce critical chemicals for batteries because of its existing infrastructure, services and availability of skilled labour.
“The world’s transition to electric vehicles will result in unprecedented demand for nickel, in particularly the battery chemical nickel sulphate. This provides an exciting opportunity for Australia to become a major supplier of critical chemicals.”
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Media contact: Ellen Roberts 0408 583 694
Full report available here, as well as the report summary here.
