Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) and Wollemi Capital have invested A$80m (€48m) with vegetable producer Kalfresh to build Australia’s first integrated food and energy precinct.
The project aims to turn farm waste into renewable energy for Queensland industry and transport, and sustainable fertiliser for farmers.
The deal signals the start of construction on the A$291m Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct at Kalbar in southwest Queensland.
Kylie Rampa, QIC CEO, said: “Bioenergy is a proven, reliable technology used around the world, and Kalfresh has brought forward a practical vision for Australia’s first scaled deployment designed specifically for Queensland conditions.”
Tim Bishop, Wollemi Capital co-founder and co-CEO, said the project was “shovel-ready climate infrastructure.” “We’re backing this because it’s real, reliable and replicable – a model where agriculture and renewable energy work together, underpinned by economics that stand up at scale.”
Jarrod Bleijie, Queensland deputy premier and minister for state development, infrastructure and planning, said his state was working with the private sector on strategic partnerships like this that would accelerate development and drive innovation in our priority industries.
Richard Gorman, Kalfresh co-owner and CEO, said: “This is a practical and proven renewable energy system that gives us so many options.
“Anaerobic digestion is a natural process where microbes break down organic matter to produce gas and we’ll use the by-product, digestate, as a natural fertiliser on farm. It’s a closed loop system that returns many benefits.”
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