The BD Briefing (RQ Edition) - 27 March 2026
Welcome! I'm so glad you're here.
Each week I'll be pulling together the key things happening across water, energy and critical minerals in regional Queensland and more importantly, what they actually mean for people like us doing business up here.
There is a LOT happening. So let's get into it.
The Big One: Boyne Smelter Secured to 2040
If you've only got time to read one thing this week, make it this.
On Tuesday, Rio Tinto, the QLD Government and the Commonwealth signed a $2 billion deal to secure the Boyne Aluminium Smelter at Gladstone through to at least 2040. That's about 1,000 jobs at the smelter and 4,500 across Rio's Queensland aluminium supply chain, so that's significant in itself.
But the part I think is really worth paying attention to is what sits behind the deal. To make it all work, Rio Tinto has now contracted more than 2.8GW of new renewable energy across Queensland... we're talking $7.5 billion worth of solar, wind and storage projects. One of the confirmed ones is a 40% offtake of Lightsource bp's Lower Wonga solar and battery project near Gympie.
That is a huge amount of infrastructure that needs to be designed, approved, built, connected and maintained over the next decade-plus. For anyone working in energy, environment, engineering or advisory in Central Queensland, this is really exciting.
🔍 Who's involved: Rio Tinto (73.5% owner of BSL). Confirmed renewable PPAs include European Energy (Upper Calliope 1.1GW solar, near Gladstone) and Lightsource bp (Lower Wonga solar + BESS, near Gympie) and Edify Energy (Smoky Creek & Guthrie's Gap). DT Infrastructure has been selected as preferred EPC contractor for the Edify project. Other EPC contractors for remaining generation projects — TBC as they progress. Worth watching.
CopperString Update
Most of you will be across the CopperString story by now. It's been scaled back from 500kV to 330kV and staged into two phases. The Eastern Link (Townsville to Hughenden) has momentum, and the Western Link is being assessed separately by QIC.
The big structural change happened in April 2025 when QIC was brought in after costs blew out to nearly $14 billion. QIC is now establishing a new entity to develop, deliver, own, operate and maintain the CopperString assets, which is a completely different delivery model to what was in place before. During the transition, Powerlink is continuing to progress the Eastern Link (easements, approvals, early works).
On the ground, the workforce accommodation at Hughenden is built, and works have kicked off at the $225 million Flinders Substation. The civil and earthworks package went through a competitive select tender, with completion targeted for late 2026.
The original transmission line ECI/EPC contract was held by a CPB/UGL joint venture, awarded back in 2021 and expected to be worth around $1.7 billion. With QIC's restructure and the major scope changes, the status of that arrangement is unclear and there's been no formal public announcement either way. The main transmission line construction itself isn't expected to start until 2028 (pending approvals), so there's time for QIC to run fresh procurement. This is definitely one to keep a close eye on.
🔍 Who's involved: QIC (delivery). Powerlink (Eastern Link transition). Sirrom Corporation (Hughenden WAF management). ATCO Structures (WAF construction). Flinders Substation civil/earthworks contractor awarded, name TBC. Transmission line EPC still TBC (original CPB/UGL JV status unclear).
$200M North West Energy Fund — Worth Getting Across
This one is moving quickly. QIC has started market sounding with more than 20 organisations for the $200 million North West Energy Fund. It's targeting renewable generation, battery storage and microgrid solutions for the mines out west that can't wait for transmission across Mt Isa, Cloncurry, Julia Creek and Richmond.
If you're involved in feasibility, business cases, environmental approvals or energy advisory, this is live right now. The whole point of the fund is to fast-track investment, so I'd be getting it on your radar sooner rather than later.
🔍 Who's involved: QIC (fund manager). Project consultants and contractors TBC as projects are identified.
Eva Copper — $2.3 Billion Committed
Harmony Gold has made the final investment decision on the Eva Copper Mine, about 75km north of Cloncurry. Up to 1,000 jobs during construction, 450 ongoing, and 60,000 tonnes of copper a year over a 15-year mine life. Contractors are expected to mobilise to site in early 2027 with first production in late 2028.
The timing is important because this is essentially the replacement for Glencore's Mount Isa Copper Mine as it winds down.
🔍 Who's involved: Thiess (bulk earthworks & mining services). Bechtel (process plant & infrastructure). EMM Consulting (environmental approvals). Power plant contractor TBC. Glencore (offtake, 100% concentrate, first 5 years).
Water
Wulguru wastewater (Townsville) — Council has started on Stage One. $2.2M contract awarded to local contractor KB Pipelines. Not a huge project, but it's local work going to a local business, which is always great to see.
🔍 Who's involved: KB Pipelines (construction). Funded jointly through Works for Queensland and TCC.
Flinders Shire water and sewerage — one to keep an eye on. As part of the $50 million CopperString Community Benefits Fund, $1 million has been allocated for detailed design and cost analysis for water and sewerage upgrades in Hughenden. The bigger picture is that Council's preliminary estimates put the full upgrade at around $35 million. The existing systems are aging and the CopperString workforce camp is going to put additional pressure on them.
🔍 Who's involved: GHD (project management, awarded late 2025). Detailed design TBC. Full upgrade ($35M) unfunded.
One thing worth noting from the QMCA's Major Projects Pipeline Report that there's nearly $6.5 billion in water and sewage projects planned across Queensland over the next five years, but more than a third of that is still unfunded. So there's a lot of opportunity, but also a fair bit of uncertainty around when and how it gets delivered.
Other Things Worth Knowing About
Collaborative Exploration Initiative Round 10 — 26 critical minerals exploration projects funded, up to $250K each. Copper dominated, with more than 40% of applicants targeting it. Worth noting this is the final round of the CEI though with no word yet on what comes next.
NAIF (Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund) extended to 2036. The bill is still formally before Parliament, but word at the Green Energy Forum in Townsville last week was that it's all been approved and is going through. Good news for anyone working on projects in Northern Australia that rely on NAIF backing.
What I'm Hearing
People are definitely noticing a slowdown in the renewables space up here. Some of the consultancies that were flat out 12 months ago are now looking around for other options, which tells you something.
I was at the Green Energy Forum in Townsville last week and heard from Windlab and a couple of other developers. They were really upfront about the two main bottlenecks holding projects back from getting their FID right now:
- EPBC approvals. Projects are taking years to get through the federal environmental approvals process. There have been some recent changes to the EPBC framework, so there's a bit of hope that things might speed up but it's very much a wait-and-see at this stage.
- Grid connections. Whether it's the approvals process, the cost, or both, getting connected to the grid is a real sticking point for developers. This is something I'm going to keep a close eye on, because if the generation projects can't connect, the whole pipeline slows down.
Worth watching both of these closely. If you're hearing anything different (or the same!), I'd love to know.
Upcoming Events Worth Knowing About
Don't miss the April Member Mixer by Townsville Enterprise on Tuesday April 14 - I'll be there 😀
SAVE THE DATE: Townsville Enterprise Critical Minerals Forum in Townsville, 26 May.
I'll keep a running list of upcoming events HERE (always being updated), and don't forget to let me know if I'm missing any important ones!
Wrapping Up
What a week! Both levels of government are clearly backing regional Queensland as an energy and industrial hub, and the private sector is following. The money is real and the projects are real.
The challenge is going to be delivery. The QMCA is forecasting a peak construction workforce shortfall of 50,000 workers in 2026–27, and every project I've talked about today is competing for the same skills, the same approvals capacity and the same supply chains.
There's plenty of work out there. I'm looking forward to helping you stay across it all.
See you next Friday!
— Frances
frances@nelligan.co
All information in The BD Briefing is sourced from publicly available material. I will never share confidential information, client information, or commercially sensitive material in this publication.
