Queensland farm waste to fuel biogas facility in A$291m Australian first

Vegetable grower Kalfresh has secured A$80 million in climate investment from Wollemi Capital and the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) to build Australia's first integrated food and energy precinct, using anaerobic digestion to convert farm waste into renewable natural gas, electricity and sustainable fertiliser.
The funding marks the start of construction on the A$291 million Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct (SRAIP) at Kalbar, with first energy production scheduled for mid-2027.
At its heart, the Kalfresh Bioenergy Facility will use anaerobic digestion to transform food waste and crop residues into renewable natural gas, with capacity to power up to 31,000 homes or fuel up to 98 million kilometres of truck and bus travel annually.
Kalfresh co-owner and CEO Richard Gorman described the technology as simple and proven.
"Anaerobic digestion is a natural process where microbes break down organic matter to produce gas," he said. "We'll use the by-product, digestate, as a natural fertiliser on farm. It's a closed loop system that reduces emissions, supports farmers, decarbonises industry and transport, and boosts local skilled jobs."
The 40-hectare precinct will also offer 13 serviced lots to third-party food and beverage manufacturers, providing access to on-site renewable power and circular waste services — a model Kalfresh founding director Robert Hinrichsen described as the start of a broader roll-out across Queensland.
Wollemi Capital co-founder Tim Bishop called the project "shovel-ready climate infrastructure" that is "real, reliable and replicable."
QIC CEO Kylie Rampa added that the investment demonstrates the commercial viability of bioenergy at scale, noting that Kalfresh has developed "a practical vision for Australia's first scaled deployment designed specifically for Queensland conditions."
Kalfresh has supplied fresh vegetables to retailers for 34 years and will draw on its own processing offcuts, farm waste and rotational crops as feedstock.