One obstacle stands in the way of massive Townsville battery project

Leighton Smith, Townsville Bulletin

May 19, 2021 12:00am

Subscriber only

• Companies behind $3b battery plant prepare council application
• More than 5000 jobs and $2bn in projects planned for Lansdown

A HUNDRED Townsville jobs will be created by a new battery assembly plant established to support a planned $3 billion battery factory, planned for the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct.

With construction expected to start in 2022 on the 18GWh lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility, plans have been revealed to step up the Townsville’s battery output sooner.

Speaking on behalf of international venture Imperium3 Townsville who were driving the project, Magnis Energy Technology chairman Frank Poullas said they planned to establish a battery assembly plant at one of Townsville’s existing industrial sites.

View of the iM3 Townville Lithium-ion battery plant proposed to be built at the Lansdown Eco-Industrial precinct. Photo: iM3TSV

Receiving batteries produced by their New York factory (which opens in nine months), the Townsville plant would employ 100 workers who would assemble the batteries with software into a battery pack before selling them throughout Australia.

“We’re looking at it being sort of like a two stage process, one getting into production with assembling these battery packs in Townsville, and then concurrently going developing our project in Lansdowne that will produce these lithium ion batteries down the track,” Dr Poullas said.

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“We’re looking at how can we get into production as soon as possible and start creating jobs in Townsville as quick as possible.”

He said they were working closely with the Queensland Government, Townsville City Council and a number of private enterprises towards securing enough battery sales contracts.

Frank Poullas chairs the Australian company, Magnis Resources, that is part of a consortium that wants to build a gigafactory producing batteries for electric cars and renewable wind farms in Townsville. Hollie Adams/The Australian

“Within 12 months of securing large offtake agreements, (the Townsville plant) can be up running,” he said.

“Because there’s no point building something if you don’t have the customers to buy your products, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing right now.”

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Mr Poullas was “quietly confident” they would secure enough contracts to begin advancing the development approval process for the Lansdown project with TCC, within the next two to three months.

The project could create an estimated 2500 construction jobs, 2000 permanent jobs and thousands of downstream jobs for the community.

“We’ve got major interest from financiers, and we’ve had chats with the top four banks – there’s a lot of interest there,” he said.

“The missing piece is these large contracts. We get those and we’re off and running.”

He said the factory would have numerous benefits for the community, acting as an “enabler” for additional factories to co-locate and provide parts and materials.

The factory’s massive workforce would also be a boon to the local economy.

With governments pushing for clean energy, renewable power and energy security, Mr Poullas said they were “getting some serious traction” in their discussions with them.

Townsville mayor Jenny Hill Imperium3’s proposed battery manufacturing facility was exactly the kind of investment Council wants to attract to Townsville and they continued to work with the company to bring their plans to fruition.

“This facility, once fully operational, will provide environmentally sustainable, advanced manufacturing jobs-of-the-future which will help grow our city and region,” Cr Hill said.

To express interest in locally produced batteries, email [email protected]

View of Stage 1 of the iM3 Townville Lithium-ion battery plant. Photo: iM3TSV

[email protected]