MAJOR 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, where they’ll turn farm waste into 24/7 renewable energy for Queensland industry and transport, and sustainable fertiliser for farmers.
The deal signals the start of construction on the $291m Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct (SRAIP) at Kalbar.
The centrepiece of the 40ha precinct will be the Kalfresh Bioenergy Facility, which will transform 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.
Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie, said the project showed how industry and innovation can work together to build a future-ready Queensland.
“Queensland is open for business, and we're working with the private sector on strategic partnerships like this that will accelerate development and drive innovation in our priority industries, and create secure new jobs,” Deputy Premier Bleijie said.
“These investments create jobs and drive regional development that secures Queensland’s position as a global leader in biofuels and energy innovation.”
Minister for Finance, Trade, Employment and Training Ros Bates said bioenergy projects co-located in farming communities are the kind of practical investment regional Queensland needs.
“We are focused on strengthening Queensland’s economy and making sure regional communities share in that growth,” Minister Bates said.
“That’s how you build a stronger economy, by backing industry, working with farmers and making sure projects stack up economically as well as environmentally.”
Practical, proven circular economy in action
Kalfresh has supplied fresh vegetables to retailers for 34 years and will turn its processing offcuts, farm waste and rotational crops into energy using anaerobic digestion, offering a constant source of renewable electricity and fuels.
Kalfresh co-owner and Chief Executive Officer Richard Gorman said it’s a simple, proven technology used extensively 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 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.
“We’re proud to be leading this project and we’re excited to be partnering with QIC and Wollemi in a consortium bringing to market a wide range of renewable products, including new baseload generation to the energy market.”
The Bioenergy Facility construction will be staged and at full capacity could:
- Power up to 31,000 homes a year, or
- Fuel up to 98-million kilometres of truck, bus and tractor travel with low-emission renewable natural gas (RNG) annually
- Abate up to 430,000 tonnes of CO₂ emission annually, which is equivalent to planting 21-million trees a year
- Replace synthetic fertilisers with digestate biofertiliser, improving soil health and reducing import reliance.
Wollemi Capital Co-Founder and Co-CEO Tim Bishop said the project is “shovel-ready climate infrastructure.”
“We’re backing this because it’s real, reliable and replicable – a model where agriculture and renewable energy work together, underpinned by economics that stand up at scale.”
QIC CEO Kylie Rampa said the investment represents a significant step forward in demonstrating the commercial viability and scalability of bioenergy from the paddock up.
“Alongside Wollemi, QIC is pleased to support Kalfresh as they lead the way in introducing a scalable bioenergy platform to Queensland, demonstrating how agriculture and clean energy can work hand in hand,” Ms Rampa said.
“Bioenergy is a proven, reliable technology used around the world, and Kalfresh has brought forward a practical vision for Australia’s first scaled deployment designed specifically for Queensland conditions.
Success overseas
Anaerobic digestion (AD) technology has been operating in Europe and America for decades and is already powering homes and industry, including fleets of trucks for Amazon and UPS, and public buses in the UK, Germany, Paris, LA and New York.
This will be the first scaled deployment of the system in an Australian farming region, designed for Queensland conditions.
“The system produces a natural gas that has the same composition as fossil gas, making it a reliable and renewable replacement for big-emitting industrial and transport uses with minimal infrastructure upgrades,” Mr Gorman said.
“We can also send energy to the grid at peak times to stabilise the power network when wind and solar are not available.”
Construction of the Queensland Government Coordinated Project has begun, with the first clean energy scheduled to flow from mid-2027.
The food and energy precinct will bring approximately 1000 new jobs into the region during construction and in operation, including up to 475 permanent positions.
Precinct is “just the start”
Kalfresh founding director and co-owner, Robert Hinrichsen, said Kalfresh will expand its operations within the Cunningham Highway precinct and will offer 13 serviced lots to third-party food and beverage manufacturers, who will have access to on-site renewable power and circular waste services.
Mr Hinrichsen said this will catalyse a regional jobs boom and help return food processing to where food is grown.
“We’re confident our Kalbar project is just the start for this farm to fuel model,” he said.
“We have a plan to build more food and energy precincts in Queensland. This is a proven energy solution that works now. It brings new investment to regional areas, develops new markets for agriculture and creates secure, year-round skilled local jobs.
“It’s clean, it’s closed loop and it puts farmers at the centre of the solution.”
Kalfresh was advised by Deloitte Corporate Finance and Talbot Sayer. Wollemi and QIC were advised by HSF Kramer.
Project images, vision and artist impressions are available for download here.
ENDS
Media Enquiries
Matt Wordsworth
0404 029 241
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Sophie Day
0408 935 885
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About the Partners
About Kalfresh
Kalfresh was established in 1992 to unite local growers under one brand. The business is now one of the state’s largest vegetable farming and production companies, with interests across four regions, the Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley, Southern Downs and Bowen. The company supplies conventional and organic vegetables to major Australian retailers and exports to international markets.
www.kalfresh.com.au www.agprecinct.com.au /
About Wollemi Capital
Wollemi Capital is a leading climate infrastructure investor with specialist expertise in delivering large-scale energy and infrastructure projects that drive decarbonisation. With ~40 staff across Australia and the USA, Wollemi provides capital and expertise to scale asset-intensive technologies, businesses and projects that deliver quantifiable GHG emissions reductions. The firm invests across four key themes: Energy Transition, Waste-to-Value, Industrial Decarbonisation, and Natural Capital & Agriculture.
About QIC
QIC is a trusted Australian investment manager and sovereign investor, delivering with discipline across a global portfolio of alternative and liquid assets. It manages more than A$135 billion on behalf of around 125 institutional and government clients, providing specialist expertise across infrastructure, real estate, private equity, private debt and fixed income and multi-asset solutions. Established in 1991 to manage the long-term investments of the Queensland Government, QIC has grown from a single-client mandate into one of Australia’s largest institutional investment managers, grounded in our sovereign heritage and guided by a global perspective.
Contact details:
Matt Wordsworth
0404 029 241
