Barcaldine Renewable Energy Zone

Discussions leading to the concept of the Barcaldine Renewable Industrial Zone (BREZ) began in early 2017 when the seven Mayors of the Central West Remote Area Development & Planning Board (RAPAD) approached Sunshot Industries for advice on the potential for new industries to expand employment and incomes using the region’s renewable resources.

Company Chair, Professor Ross Garnaut, visited the region four times over the next three years and met with the regional mayors on two occasions in Brisbane.

In identifying several promising industrial projects, it was decided to initially focus on development of one industrial zone. Barcaldine had the best prospects because it was the centre of east-west and north-south road networks; was on the east-west railway; had a substantial and active airport; was the centre of the central west power network and hosted the Ergon network centre with gas pipeline connection; was on the main NBN link from Darwin to eastern Australia; and shared the region’s excellent solar energy resource and had opportunities for biomass and wind energy generation. Barcaldine has the best solar resource amongst all locations in eastern Australia with a substantial connection to the National Electricity Market’s main grid. It was decided that success in one location would show the way to others and be followed by efforts to develop industrial zones in
other shires.