The Bundaberg bioHub has opened and is taking expressions of interest from prospective food, bioenergy and fertiliser industry tenants.
Bioenergy developer Utilitas Group and Bundaberg Regional Council acquired a redundant wastewater treatment plant to create an industrial plant that focuses on renewable natural gas (RNG), biome thane and hydrogen.
Bundaberg mayor Jack Dempsey said the region is poised to become the bio-manufacturing capital of Queensland and Australia.
Utilitas CEO Fiona Waterhouse said: “Our supply chain partners, Green Eco Technologies (GET), Grenof, ENGV, Energy360, Scania, New Holland and ReCarbon Inc. have told us how important it is to provide an “expo park” to showcase the technologies and new business models for this new asset class in Australia.
“We are very excited to be working with waste industry innovators, GET, supplier of the WasteMaster organic waste management system on display at the Bundaberg bioHub today.”
Waterhouse said an indication of the bioeconomy opportunity in the region was GET’s commitment that once the first 30-40 WasteMasters are installed in commercial facilities like clubs, pubs, hospitals and aged care facilities in the Wide Bay Region, GET will be looking to establish its Queensland base, including manufacturing capability, at the Bundaberg bioHub.
“It’s a win-win-win: customers get cheaper, cleaner, safer organic waste management, the Bundaberg bioHub get a great feedstock for making renewable natural gas (RNG) and Bundaberg gets some new manufacturing jobs” she said.
The bioHub offers industrial and commercial tenants a unique blend of laboratory, waste and wastewater services, electricity, gas, C02 and hot water as part of their tenancy. Waterhouse said tenancies are available for:
- biomanufacturing;
- growhouse;
- aquaculture;
- Ag-tech;
- organic processing;
- fertiliser; and
- biogas.
Utilitas Group, is a bioenergy company which develops regional bioHubs, industrial parks that create energy, jobs and value from organic waste. The Company has a delivery model that redevelops stressed and redundant utility infrastructure with advanced anaerobic digestion (AD) for the production of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), biomethane and hydrogen.
The company is on a mission to develop 100 bioHubs in 100 regional communities to secure local fuel, food and fertiliser supplies, existing and new jobs in regional areas, Waterhouse said.
