The Queensland Renewable Energy Council (QREC) says a proposed data centre in the Western Downs Regional Council area demonstrates how the region’s diverse energy mix — alongside its strong agricultural base — is strengthening its appeal to major new energy-intensive industries.
QREC Chief Executive Officer Katie-Anne Mulder said the Western Downs had deliberately built on its traditional energy strengths by welcoming significant investment in wind, solar and battery storage, while maintaining the crucial role of agriculture and established coal and gas industries.
“The Western Downs has long been one of Queensland’s great energy-producing and agricultural regions, with established coal and gas industries sitting alongside grain, cotton, feedlots and other agricultural production,” Ms Mulder said.
“What makes the Western Downs particularly compelling is the way these industries coexist.
“Few regions anywhere in Australia can point to this combination of major agricultural production, coal and gas, wind and solar generation, battery storage and increasingly sophisticated industrial development operating alongside each other.
“That coexistence is something the region needs to maintain as investment grows. Agriculture remains fundamental to the Western Downs economy and communities, and new energy and industrial development must continue to respect productive agricultural land, landholders and existing industries.”
Ms Mulder said the addition of renewable energy had further strengthened the region’s investment proposition.
“The Western Downs has embraced the next wave of energy investment in wind, solar and battery storage without losing sight of the industries that have underpinned the region for generations.
“That increasingly diverse energy mix, combined with major transmission infrastructure, an experienced workforce and a strong agricultural and industrial economy, is helping make the Western Downs an attractive location for emerging industries such as data centres.”
The Western Downs Digital Park development application identifies the region as one of Australia’s major renewable energy hubs, with solar, wind and battery projects exporting electricity into the broader grid, and points to the region’s energy production and infrastructure as part of the rationale for locating the project there.
Ms Mulder said the proposal demonstrated the broader economic opportunity from using all of the Western Downs’ energy resources to attract new industrial development.
“For many years, the Western Downs has exported enormous amounts of energy and agricultural production to the rest of Queensland, Australia and the world.
“The next opportunity is to use that competitive advantage to attract more investment into the region itself — bringing new industries, jobs and economic activity closer to where the energy is produced.
“The combination of coal, gas, wind, solar and batteries gives the Western Downs an energy advantage that very few regions can match.
“The addition of wind, solar and batteries has helped establish the Western Downs as Queensland’s Energy Capital, and that diversity is becoming a competitive advantage as large electricity users consider where to invest.”
QREC and its members attended the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise Energy Summit in Dalby this week, where it was highlighted that more than $36 billion in energy projects were proposed for the Western Downs.
Ms Mulder said future investment needed to reinforce the Western Downs model of coexistence between agriculture, energy and industry.
“The goal should be to build on that strength, protecting the grain, cotton, feedlot and broader agricultural industries that are crucial to the region while responsibly developing the full range of energy resources that can support its next generation of economic growth,” she said.
Ms Mulder said the proposed Digital Park remained subject to the comprehensive planning and regulatory assessment appropriate for a development of its scale.
“QREC is not seeking to pre-empt the assessment of this particular development application.
“The proponent will need to satisfy the relevant planning, infrastructure, environmental and community requirements, including demonstrating how the development can coexist appropriately with surrounding land uses.
“But the decision to propose a major data centre development in the Western Downs is itself a strong signal about the economic value of the region’s diverse energy, agricultural and industrial strengths.”