LPE Energy gets on board with Bundaberg BioHub

Bundaberg’s bio-hub is powering up, with a new tenant announcing it will raise millions of dollars in capital to get onboard.

It’s full steam ahead for the developing Bundaberg BioHub, with the announcement that an ASX-listed company, Sunshine Coast’s LPE Energy, will stump up $7.5m in capital to get on board.

LPE Energy lists itself as a “fast growing electricity provider challenging the way customers receive their electricity”.

Its role in the bio-hub will be to bill the renewable energy it creates and to work with the wholesale market to balance out imports, exports, shortfalls and excess of energy.

It is expected that energy will service five data centres and crypto miner tenants of the hub, who typically have a high need for power.

The company is connected with a proposed on-site crypto miner, STAK Mining Pty Ltd, which is focused on 100 per cent renewable-powered projects.

Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey said he welcomed both LPE Energy and STAK Mining getting on board as tenants of the hub.

“They’re committed to having a zero carbon footprint and this is exactly the type of investment we need if our region it to meet its net zero target by 2030,” he said.

Utilitas Group’s Bundaberg bio-hub, which is set for completion in 12 months, will generate renewable power from a combination of solar, battery, biogas and hydrogen sources.

In 2020, Utilitas Group told the Bundaberg NewsMail the ideal tenants for the hub were biomanufacturing, growhouses, aquaculture, ag-tech, organic processing and fertiliser production.

“The bio-hub is repurposing council‘s decommissioned East Bundaberg Wastewater Treatment Plant and creating new jobs in the bio-economy,” Cr Dempsey said.