Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and Townsville City Council have entered an MoU for the proposed polysilicon project
This agreement moves the Northern Quartz Campus project toward its next development agreement
The project is expected to create up to 1,200 construction and operational jobs; commercial operations are targeted for 2030
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Townsville City Council for its planned polysilicon production project in Australia's Queensland.
Townsville City Council and Quinbrook-owned project company Solquartz recently signed the MoU to advance the Northern Quartz Campus at the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct in Queensland.
The planned facility would be Australia's first integrated quartz-to-silicon manufacturing precinct. Queensland state government had previously announced prescribed status for the polysilicon project (see Major Boost For Proposed Queensland’s Polysilicon Project). In February 2026, it received Major Project Status from the Australian government.
Quinbrook had already secured conditional approval from the city council for a parcel of land for the AUD 7.8 billion project, designed to process Australian quartz into higher-value silicon materials used in solar PV, semiconductors and other advanced technologies (see Polysilicon Manufacturing Planned In Australia).
The MoU now provides a pathway for the parties to finalize a Project Development and Infrastructure Agreement by the end of 2026. It will define the council's infrastructure delivery obligations and Solquartz's contribution to infrastructure costs for the project's first stage.
The Northern Quartz Campus is expected to create up to 1,200 jobs across construction and operations. Commercial operations are expected to begin by 2030.
Quinbrook Senior Vice President Vignesh Bandi said the MoU was an important step toward combining renewable energy, storage, and manufacturing at Lansdown. “Industrial projects of this scale depend on enabling infrastructure, government support and private capital working together,” Bandi said.
Townsville Mayor Nick Dametto said the agreement marked progress toward finalizing Lansdown's first Project Development and Infrastructure Agreement. “After years of planning and groundwork, Lansdown is moving from concept to construction,” Dametto said.
Quinbrook is also progressing its co-located Supernode North Battery Energy Storage System project at Lansdown. The long-duration battery project is intended to support energy-intensive manufacturing and help unlock additional grid capacity across the precinct.
As Australia supports domestic solar PV manufacturing under its Solar SunShot initiative, polysilicon is emerging as a key part of efforts to build a more complete local solar supply chain and reduce reliance on concentrated overseas supply.
According to an Australian government-backed study, the country can support around 27 GW of solar module production capacity annually with a 50,000-ton polysilicon plant at the Hunter Energy Hub (see Australia Eyes Bridging 240,000 Ton Poly-Si Gap By 2035).
