Townsville Hub

Overview

The Townsville region is located on the north-eastern cost of Queensland and includes the city of Townsville, the largest population centre in northern Australia. Townsville is the logistics and processing hub for metals and critical minerals mined in the North West Minerals Province of Queensland, including copper and zinc, as well as proposed new processing centres for nickel, cobalt, vanadium, and other metals.

As well as significant mining-related activities, the Townsville region includes considerable defence-related, agricultural and tourism activities.

The Port of Townsville is a large container and automotive port, as well as a major exporter of copper, zinc, lead, sugar, and fertiliser, offering access to hydrogen export potential to nearby Asian markets (to complement potential domestic hydrogen markets).

Abbot Point Port located in Bowen to the south of Townsville also falls in the Townsville region. An export terminal with significant growth potential, Abbot Point has been identified as another likely site for hydrogen export in the broader Townsville region.

The North West to Townsville Corridor hosts high quality wind and solar resources. Upgrades to the transmission infrastructure as part of the CopperString 2032 project are intended to provide significant renewable energy potential to support prospective clean energy developments in Northern Queensland.

Funding

In January 2024, the Australian Government announced that it is providing up to AUD$70 million in funding to develop the Townsville Region Hydrogen Hub. The release noted the hub, led by Edify Energy, would in its initial stage produce 800 tonnes of renewables-based hydrogen with the potential to ultimately ramp-up to in excess of 150,000 tonnes for export.

The Queensland Government, through its Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan, has allocated AUD$15 million to progress hydrogen hubs in the State.

Projects

The Townsville region is host to several projects listed in HyResource targeting domestic and export uses.

 

Updated: January 2024