Queensland seeking proposals to develop commercial scale biorefinery projects
The Queensland Government is currently making
decisive efforts to support bioeconomy growth in that State and lead
Australia's biorevolution. Its Biofutures Vision is to build a sustainable and
export-oriented industrial biotechnology and bioproducts sector attracting
significant international investment, and creating regional, high-value and
knowledge-intensive jobs. To achieve such vision, it has developed the Queensland
Biofutures 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan (June 2016) that shows its
competitive advantages and opportunities for growth. It is worth taking a look
at the document. In extreme summary, bioproducts sector is the next wave of
economic development and the roadmap sets Queensland on a path to ride this
wave.
Figure 1. Queensland’s Biofuture (extracted
from Queensland Biofutures 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan)
One of the key components of the Queensland
Biofutures 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan is the Biofutures Acceleration
Program. The objective of this program is to attract and support the
development of new biorefinery projects in Queensland. They are determined to
attract industry leaders to the region to pursue the vision.
In this sense, the Biofutures Acceleration
Program has issued an interesting Expression of Interest (EOI). The key
information is summarized in the table below.
Purpose
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To seek proposals from experienced parties
that develop one or more commercial scale biorefinery projects in Queensland.
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Scope
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The Queensland Government is prepared to
consider a broad range of support to attract suitable companies. The EOI
stage is the commencement of a competitive selection process that will
provide a fair and transparent opportunity for proponents to seek government
support.
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Background
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As an initial step, a Request for Information
(RFI) was conducted, to seek views from interested parties about potential
roles to play and options for the State to accelerate development proposals.
The RFI closed on 26 October 2016 and it drew 26 responses from Australian
and international companies.
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Timing
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9 November 2016 - Wednesday 18 January 2017 (2:00
PM).
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More information
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