MAJOR Queensland vegetable grower Kalfresh Vegetables has secured $80m in climate investment from Wollemi Capital and Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to build Australia’s first integrated food and bioenergy precinct.
The deal signals the start of construction on the $291m Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct (SRAIP) at Kalbar, in Southeast Queensland.
They’ll turn farm waste into 24/7 renewable energy for Queensland industry and transport, and sustainable fertiliser for farmers.
This is an outstanding Australia cleantech and agtech innovative achievement and has the potential to roll out in Southeast Asia.
The centrepiece of the 40ha precinct is the Kalfresh Bioenergy Facility, which will enable Kalfresh to transform processing offcuts, farm and other organic waste, and rotational crops into renewable value streams, including scalable production of renewable energy and biofuels for use by industry and public utilities across the South East Queensland region.
This model is designed to deliver both commercial and climate benefits.
By co-locating farming, food processing, renewable generation and industrial land within a single precinct, Kalfresh is building complementary businesses based on circular principles. Food and agricultural waste becomes feedstock for biodiversity renewable electricity, gas and fertiliser are available for precinct tenants and nearby farms.
The technology at the heart of this vision, anaerobic digestion, produces two key outputs: Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), an important transition fuel for hard-to-abate sectors; and digestate, which offers an alternative to synthetic fertilisers – a significant source of global GHG emissions.
This 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.” ~ Kalfresh Co-Founder and Co-CEO Tim Bishop
“Accelerating the transition to renewable energy and implementing more sustainable farming and food production practices are two important but seemingly unrelated challenges. With this investment in Kalfresh we’re excited to bring those two crucial climate investment thematics together – investing alongside QIC and our first Wollemi-managed fund, which is capitalised by Rest, one of Australia’s largest profit-to-member superannuation funds.”
Australian firm Kalfresh was founded in 1992 by Barry and Kay Hinrichsen, along with their son Robert Hinrichsen, with the goal of collectively marketing produce for local farmers in the Scenic Rim region. The Queensland-based agribusiness is a major, vertically integrated vegetable grower, with Robert Hinrichsen serving as a current director.
Watch Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct (SRAIP) at Kalbar, in Southeast Queensland
Video : https://vimeo.com/1165962277?fl=pl&fe=cm
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Future Now Green News is a forward-thinking media platform dedicated to spotlighting the people, projects, and innovations driving the green & blue economy across Australia, Asia and Pacific region. Our mission is to inform, inspire, and connect changemakers through thought leadership and solutions-focused storytelling in sustainability, clean energy, regenerative tourism, climate action, and future-ready industries.
