More jobs, manufacturing, to start in North Queensland amid clean energy push by state government

A new partnership, and $3 million from the state government, will be used to produce key ingredients for container sized renewable batteries.

Joel Lenton, Geoff Whebell, Treasurer Cameron Dick and Nicholas Whebell from the Cleveland Bay Chemical Company, at the Cleveland Bay Chemical Company's Townsville facility. Picture: Shae Beplate.

A $3 million grant from the state government will be used to scale up production at one of Townsville’s battery production facilities as the north continues to buy-into a critical minerals enriched future.

The funding, which will come through the government’s $200 million Regional Economic Futures Fund, will be provided to Cleveland Bay Chemical Company and their partners Energy Storage Industries to expand their production of iron flow batteries.

Cleveland Bay Chemical Company’s Business Development Manager Nick Whebell said

“We’re not just making a basic chemical here - it’s an advanced material, that requires a different level of capability from typical industrial chemical manufacturing requires.

“By doing this in Townsville, we’re building new capability and building new skills and jobs that are very high skilled, very high tech right here.”

Mr Whebell said the manufacturing could eventually be leveraged as an export commodity.

Nick Whebell, Les Walker and Scott Stewart at the announcement of a $3 million grant for Energy Storage Industries – Asia Pacific and Cleveland Bay Chemical Company in Townsville.

“We think it’s a really good opportunity for North Queensland and Townsville in particular,” Mr Whebell said.

Mundingburra MP Les Walker, who was present at Cleveland Bay Chemical Company on Wednesday to announce the grant funding, said the move would create 50 construction jobs, and 20 more long-term jobs at the facility itself.

“It’s an exciting day for Townsville, and another great story for the sustainable energy market - if we don’t build it here in Queensland, someone else will do it,” Mr Walker said.

“We want to make sure we do it here, with Queensland made products, and through a family owned business here in Townsville.”

Townsville MP and Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the technology and chemicals being developed in Townsville would be a cornerstone of the ‘future of energy’ in Queensland.

“Particularly in Townsville, this is the place to be. This is about manufacturing batteries, those flow batteries are the size of shipping containers. Our renewable energies will charge these batteries and at night our communities will be able to flip over to those batteries, knowing there’s energy stored by the chemicals from right here in Townsville,” Mr Stewart said.

“These batteries will help charge and renew our power plants, but the beauty with flow batteries is their life expectancy is around 25 years, and after that, 95 per-cent of those battery elements can be recycled and reused and we get another 25 years out of them.”