Queensland vegetable grower, Kalfresh, has secured $80m in climate investment from Wollemi Capital and the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to build Australia's first integrated food and energy precinct, turning farm waste into renewable energy for Queensland industry and transport, and sustainable fertiliser for farmers.
The deal marks the start of construction on the $291m Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct at Kalbar. The 40ha precinct will centre on the Kalfresh Bioenergy Facility, transforming food waste and crop residues into renewable natural gas. At full capacity, it will produce enough energy to power up to 31,000 homes or fuel up to 98 million kilometres of truck and bus travel annually.
© Kalfresh
Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie said the project would accelerate development in priority industries and create jobs. Minister for Finance, Trade, Employment and Training Ros Bates said bioenergy projects co-located in farming communities are practical investments for regional Queensland.
Kalfresh has supplied fresh vegetables to retailers for 34 years and will turn processing offcuts, farm waste, and rotational crops into energy using anaerobic digestion. Kalfresh co-owner and Chief Executive Officer Richard Gorman said the technology is used overseas to turn agricultural waste into power, renewable natural gas fuel, and fertiliser.
"This is a practical and proven renewable energy system that gives us so many options," Mr. Gorman said.
"We can produce renewable gas to fuel vehicles and power homes and industry with farm waste inputs. 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 the farm.
"It's a closed-loop system that returns many benefits. It reduces emissions, supports farmers, decarbonises industry and transport, and boosts local skilled jobs."
Wollemi Capital Co-Founder and Co-CEO Tim Bishop said the project is "shovel-ready climate infrastructure." QIC CEO Kylie Rampa said the investment demonstrates the commercial viability of bioenergy from the paddock up.
At full capacity, the facility could power up to 31,000 homes a year, fuel up to 98 million kilometres of truck, bus, and tractor travel annually, abate up to 430,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year, and replace synthetic fertilisers with digestate biofertiliser.
Anaerobic digestion has been operating in Europe and America for decades. This will be the first scaled deployment in an Australian farming region, designed for Queensland conditions. Construction has begun, with the first clean energy scheduled for mid-2027.
The precinct is expected to bring approximately 1000 new jobs to the region during construction and operation, including up to 475 permanent positions.
© KalfreshFor more information:
Kalfresh
Tel: +61 07 5410 7700
Email: [email protected]
www.kalfresh.com.au
