Held in Gladstone, the gateway to Central Queensland’s Industrial and renewable energy sector, the conference provided an opportunity to gain an insight into where industry is heading and the available opportunities in the renewables transition.

Day one started with, Assistant Minister for Hydrogen Development and the 50% Renewable Energy Target by 2030, Lance McCallum announcing publicly owned CS Energy is partnering with the GEA on an innovative project to map the capability of local suppliers to work on new wind energy developments in CQ. This set the pace for the day, with a stellar line up of presenters that followed including Rio Tinto, Gladstone Area Water Board, Powerlink, Inter-Port Global, Alpha HPA and Fortescue Future Industries. All presenting on their current projects and showcasing the promising future in new and existing industry for the region. Informative presentations from Queensland Resource Council, Gladstone Goondiwindi Railway, Construction Skills Queensland and CQU talked skilling and the journey that will need to be undertaken to support the projects ahead.

On day two delegates were welcomed by Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing and Minister for Water, Hon. Glenn Butcher. Minister Butcher discussed the newly released Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan and the exciting developments that will flow from that plan, including the large percentage of manufacturing that will take place directly in Queensland. Updates were also provided from a consortium of developed industries in the energy sector; Tritium discussed their developments in electric fast charges, Honeywell as process automation leaders, Neon discussed renewable energy and storage projects and Sunshine Hydro presented their operational technology for the proposed Miriam Vale development. H2U Hydrogen Utility, Stanwell, Nera and so many more took the stage and completed the information download on energy for day two.

GEA thanks all those that attended and contributed via presentations, sponsorships or conversations over the two-days of conference connectivity, we hope to see you at the next one, if not before!