One of Queensland’s largest-ever renewable energy projects, the North Queensland Super Hub, will be completed thanks to a partnership between a worldwide green energy corporation and a clean energy operator with 100% Australian ownership (NQSH).
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and Windlab were behind the Super Hub, with plans to feed the power grid and manufacture green hydrogen on an industrial scale, in a speech at the Bohle Industrial Estate in Townsville.
According to the Premier, “The North Queensland Super Hub is an extraordinary investment in Queensland’s energy future, coming from two corporations with a long history in our State and a special grasp of our natural resources and potential.”
“My administration is working with Fortescue Future Industries to build the Green Energy Manufacturing Centre in Gladstone, which will house the world’s largest electrolyser factory when it goes into operation.
And people would recognize Windlab as one of the architects of the Kennedy Energy Park near Hughenden, a project that combines wind, solar, and energy storage.
More than 10 gigawatts of renewable energy are expected to be produced by wind and solar installations that will be gathered under the new Super Hub.
In addition to supporting the large-scale manufacturing of green hydrogen, a fuel of the future produced by green energy, this clean energy can be injected into the electrical grid.
Our State is in the driver’s seat to deliver green hydrogen to the world because of our natural resources and projects like the North Queensland Super Hub that are catalysts.
The 800-megawatt Prairie Wind Farm and the 1000-megawatt Wongalee project will be included in the first stage of the North Queensland Super Hub, which is currently undergoing detailed planning.
Up to 240 jobs might be supported by the Prairie Wind Farm alone during construction, and 10 to 15 full-time, permanent employment could be created throughout the operation. By 2025, the initial stage of construction is anticipated to start, and by 2027, clean, green power would be produced by the projects.
Queensland, according to Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles, is quickly developing into a superpower in hydrogen and renewable energy.
The Super Hub, according to Mr. Miles, will make Townsville and North Queensland an ideal place to support large-scale green hydrogen projects and bring with it good, stable jobs.
“North Queensland is the ideal location for FFI and Windlab to invest in a Super Hub and provide more renewable energy to the system because of its world-class wind and solar resources.
The Queensland Super Grid will include The Super Hub as well.
The opportunity to construct the North Queensland Super Hub, according to Mark Hutchinson, CEO of Fortescue Future Industries, is a game-changer for Queensland.
According to Mr. Hutchinson, “Australia’s natural resources, particularly its wind, sun, and landmass, are unparalleled in their potential for the creation of green energy, green hydrogen in particular,” and nowhere is this more true than in the Sunshine State.
The goal of this is to put Queensland and Australia in the best possible position to take the lead in the production and distribution of green hydrogen on a global scale.
The North Queensland Super Hub will, for the first time, offer the volume of green energy required to support extensive green hydrogen production right here in Queensland.
“This presents huge environmental and economic opportunities, both in terms of reducing emissions and dependence on fossil fuels as well as in terms of local job development.”
According to John Martin, CEO of Windlab, the company has spent ten years learning about the area’s renewable resources and cultivating partnerships with community members and stakeholders.
Windlab’s experience and track record on the ground, according to Mr. Martin, “demonstrates our commitment to meaningful partnerships with local landowners and communities, and a clear focus on delivering the best-performing assets while managing any potential impacts in a way that meets stakeholder expectations.”
“The North Queensland Super Hub delivers a high-yield, complementary wind and solar resource in the area that is appropriate for many offtake opportunities and is compatible with the existing land use,” according to the report.
“This facility represents a significant step toward realizing our strategic, scalable growth strategy that harnesses the region’s underutilized renewable energy base to revolutionize Australia’s power market and propel the country’s clean energy transition.”
The Northern Queensland Super Hub, according to Ms. Palaszczuk, will lie at the center of Queensland’s SuperGrid and speed up the development of the Northern Queensland Renewable Energy Zone (QREZ).
In the next decades, Premier Palaszczuk said, “Our SuperGrid, made up of wind and solar projects, battery storage, and pumped hydro, will supply Queensland with clean, affordable, and reliable energy.”
The Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan, which we launched in September of this year, includes the construction of the SuperGrid as a significant component.
By 2035, the Plan will have invested $62 billion from both public and private sources in the energy system.
“It will assure stable employment for energy workers and generate 100,000 jobs by 2040.
And it will assist our State in further decarbonizing and achieving the lofty renewable energy goals we’ve established, including 70% renewable energy by 2032.
