Townsville City Council provides update on the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct

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Townsville City Council Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney has highlighted the benefits of the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct and the council has provided an update about the precinct. Pictures: Supplied.

Townsville City Council is pushing ahead with a major development project billed as the “gateway to a greater tomorrow”, despite the organisation facing some “hard truths” about its financial position.

The Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct (LEIP) promises to become northern Australia’s first environmentally sustainable industrial hub, with the project expected to create thousands of jobs over its lifetime.

It will be developed by the council over the next two decades on a 2200-hectare block in Calcium, 40km south of Townsville.

The LEIP was estimated to create 4500 jobs during construction and once fully operational, support 3500 jobs and 9100 indirect jobs, through advanced manufacturing, processing, technology, and emerging industries.

It was declared a Prescribed Project by the Queensland Government in March 2023, which will streamline project approvals and support the roll out of enabling infrastructure works, including rail and road connections, a water pipeline, and the creation of internal road networks.

When asked about the potential benefits of developing the precinct, a Townsville City Council spokeswoman said it would lead to the creation of new highly skilled jobs while increasing the council’s rate base.

It would also attract new investment to the region, grow and strengthen existing businesses that would support the new proponents, and position Townsville at the forefront of new and innovative technologies.

Townsville’s Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said since the LEIP was first announced five years ago, half of the developable land had been committed to future proponents, highlighting industry’s keen interest in being part of the precinct.

Townsville City Council Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney.

“We know that the work going into Lansdown is going to benefit our region for many years to come, with the generation of thousands of jobs at Lansdown as it becomes Northern Australia’s major precinct for advanced manufacturing,” Cr Greaney said.

“The economic benefits from Lansdown will be significant for Townsville, driving renewable and eco-friendly industries and positioning North Queensland as a leading region in this space.

“Townsville has more than 300 days of sunshine a year which positions us as a prime location to produce renewable energy like solar and green hydrogen.”

She said Lansdown was jointly funded by the federal and state governments, in partnership with the council, which showed the confidence that all levels of government had in the development, delivery, and opening of Lansdown.

“It can be difficult for the public to fully appreciate the scope and impact of a project like this until it’s up and running, but council, along with the state and federal governments, can see the rewards that Townsville is going to reap from the industry generated at Lansdown,” Cr Greaney said.

Crunching the costs for Lansdown

The council purchased the land for $2.25m in June 2003, and has since secured a combined $74m in funding contributions from the state and federal governments.

Of that, $14m was in grants, $34m was from the federal government through the Townsville City Deal and $26m in Queensland Government in the 2022 state budget.

The government contributions were “tied to the transport and water precinct enabling infrastructure, (with) the specific details are commercial in confidence”, according to a Townsville City Council spokeswoman.

Aerial view of the land set aside for the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct, 40km south of Townsville. Picture: TCC.

“Council is not seeking to make a “developer like” return from Lansdown,” she said.

When asked how much ratepayers would contribute towards the precinct, she said the costs in excess of the governments’ contributions would be “recovered from proponents through project development and infrastructure agreements that underpin the overall lease entitlement for each proponent”.

“Council has worked with the Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) to review the financial sustainability of the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct,” she said.

“QTC has approved a loan that council will draw against to fund and build the enabling infrastructure required for the precinct.

“The loan amount will match the expenditure values outlined in the Capital Plan, less any revenue received from proponents.”

Lansdown’s raw water pipeline

A 16.25km raw water pipeline will connect Lansdown with the Haughton Pipeline, supplying up to 76ML per day.

“Council is optimising the pipeline design and mitigating key project risks before commencing with the delivery phase work. We expect to advertise the construction tender towards the end of 2025, with works commencing in Q2 2026,” the council spokeswoman said.

The raw water pipeline is marked in blue on this LEIP map. Picture: TCC.

“The capital cost of constructing the water supply infrastructure will be recovered through the Project Development and Infrastructure Agreements. The costs associated with the physical supply of water to proponents will be recovered through separate Water Supply Agreements. “The volume of water to be pumped to the precinct will depend on proponent needs as detailed in their Water Supply Agreements.”

So far, Townsville City Council had awarded the tender for the supply of pipe and closed the tender for its installation and was also seeking tenders for the construction of internal roads within the LEIP.

The proponents pushing ahead at Lansdown

While ventures previously allocated land at Lansdown, like Imperium3, RTE Energy, and Origin Energy have fallen by the wayside, other proponents have stepped up to take their places.

They include Edify Energy, High Purity Quartz, Jet Zero, Project Green Poly, and Queensland Pacific Metals TECH, and the North Queensland Gas Pipeline (NQGP).

The council has a rolling tender process that will continue until the remaining land allocations are exhausted.

The latest Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct map, including land allocations and the raw water pipeline (in blue). Picture: TCC.

“Allocations from the tender process are conditional only, and council subsequently negotiates formal agreements with proponents,” the spokeswoman said.

“Council is negotiating options to lease with another four undisclosed proponents … that are shown (on the map) as “allocated”. Details of these proponents will be provided once agreements are executed.”

Edify Energy

Investment in green hydrogen promises to create new industries, create new energy supply chains, boost business, and future-proof careers.

With an approved development application at LEIP for a large-scale (1GW) green hydrogen facility, as well as a behind-the-meter solar photovoltaic and battery storage facility, Edify will have the capacity to meet the domestic and export needs for this emerging emission-free fuel.

Edify Energy is planning a hydrogen production plant for the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct.

Edify has secured $48.2m in grant funding through the Federal Government’s Regional Hydrogen Hubs program for the development of Townsville’s Green Hydrogen Hub.

In partnership with Siemens Energy, Edify has also conditionally secured grant funding through the Australian – German HyGATE initiative – due to the project’s advanced stage of development and planned innovative technology.

High Purity Quartz

PV materials and devices convert sunlight into electrical energy.

High Purity Quartz Ltd (HPQ) plans to develop a significant solar PV grade, ultra-high purity quartz sand processing facility at the LEIP, using ore sourced from near Forsayth in western Queensland.

Quartz mined in far north Queensland will be processed by the High Purity Quartz facility planned for the LEIP. Picture: HPQ.

In collaboration with others at LEIP, it will also supply quartz for production of metallurgical grade silicon smelter and refinery.

After securing a federal government grant under its critical minerals development program to cover half its pre-feasibility study costs, HPQ was expected to complete the study shortly.

It will operate a final stage advanced processing facility at the LEIP in conjunction with a pre-processing facility at Mount Garnet.

Jet Zero

Backed by partners Qantas, Airbus and Idemitsu, Jet Zero Australia is progressing Australia’s first Alcohol-to-Jet sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Cleveland Bay.

Stephen Forshaw from Airbus, Flyn van Ewijk from LanzaJet, Ed Mason of Jet Zero Australia, Michele Bauer from the Queensland Government and Johnathon Curry from Qantas support SAF production in Townsville.

They were also actively assessing the LEIP as a potential location for another major SAF biorefinery project, or using HEFA technology, which refines vegetable oils, waste oils, or fats into SAF.

Both pathways represent a major economic opportunity for the region and feasibility studies were due to be completed in 2025.

Project Green Poly

Delivered by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, Project Green Poly represents a $7.8bn investment and will create one of Australia’s first integrated mine-to-manufacturing polysilicon supply chains.

Owned by Quinbrook, Solquartz Pty Ltd’s previous Lansdown allocation has been expanded to the Project Green Poly site.

The project is expected to create 4400 jobs in and around Townsville during construction and the facility will run for 30 years or more, supporting the worldwide expansion of solar PV energy generation.

Project Green Poly was declared a prescribed project by the Queensland Government last year and is presently undertaking a feasibility study for metallurgical silicon and polysilicon.

The QPM site at Lansdown.

Queensland Pacific Metals

Backed by over $125m of equity funding from South Korean Companies LG and POSCO and US industrial giant General Motors, Queensland Pacific Metals’ Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) Project is being developed in response to the growing demand for electric vehicles, particularly nickel and cobalt.

Once operational, $2.1bn battery metals refinery project will be a world-leading zero waste, carbon negative, sustainable, clean and green production facility, employing up to 1400 people during construction and approximately 350 when operational.

In January 2024, the TECH Project was granted $16m in state and federal funding to support the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study, which was expected to be complete by the fourth quarter of 2026.

Queensland Pacific Metals' projects across the state.

North Queensland Gas Pipeline

Linked to the QPM project, the North Queensland Gas Pipeline (NQGP) has a conditional allocation at LEIP for its natural gas pipeline system which will connect to the Moranbah Gas Project, using waste gas to power industrial users in Townsville.

For more information, visit: www.townsville.qld.gov.au/lansdown.

Originally published as Townsville City Council provides update on the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct