Lidiar Group was delighted to return as sponsors for this week’s Gladstone Engineering Alliance Major Industry, Energy and Manufacturing Conference. Representing the team was Niall Callan, who joined leaders, delegates and experts from across Central Queensland and beyond for two days of presentations and discussions about the continued development and success of Queensland’s industrial heartland. Here are Niall’s key takeaways from the conference, which once again epitomised the creativity, flexibility and passion of Gladstone and Central Queensland’s industrial base and stakeholders.
The GEA conference is an annual highlight in my calendar and this year’s event lived up to every expectation. I always come away from this conference energised and enthusiastic for the future of the region, and once again it was fantastic to see that Gladstone’s industrial, manufacturing and energy community never skips a beat; they are always innovating, trialling new ideas, fostering new industries and technologies. They are always going for it!
MP Bryson Head, the Member for Callide and Assistant Minister for Regional Development, set the tone early with an exciting presentation on the Queensland Government’s Infrastructure Pipeline. His insights into the projects planned for Central Queensland highlighted just how much investment and opportunity are headed this way.
Councillor Glenn Churchill provided an excellent overview of the Gladstone ecosystem, including a detailed process map that really brought everything together for me. It answered a key question I had – does Gladstone have a coordinated, integrated plan for future industry? The answer is yes. The process map showed how complementary industries are being strategically planned and connected. What stood out was how presenters across the two days kept referring to that map to show where their projects fit into the bigger picture.
Private Energy Partners spoke about their impressive Aldoga Project, a three-stage development that includes six gas turbines, backup generators, synchronous condensers, and battery storage. It’s another strong example of how energy security and innovation are being built into the region’s future.
The team from Grenof discussed Project Halogen, which will see a new facility constructed at Yarwun, positioned between Cement Australia and Rio Tinto. Once operational, it will produce 90 tonnes of liquefied chlorine gas, 100 tonnes of caustic soda, and 40 tonnes of sodium hypochlorite every day. Currently, Australia imports these chemicals, so producing them locally is a major step in protecting our sovereign manufacturing capability.
The Central to Defence Working Group, a partnership between regional councils and Regional Development Australia, showcased the region’s strategic potential for Defence and Defence industry investment. From its location to its access to world-class facilities, Central Queensland truly has all the right ingredients for success in this sector.
I also really enjoyed hearing from Shari Rankin of European Energy on the Upper Calliope Solar Farm, and Will Wilson from Calliope Station, whose presentation about his family’s property and vision for the future was a real highlight. Will’s passion and connection to the land resonated with everyone in the room.
Rob Williamson from Alpha HPA was outstanding as always. The company continues to go from strength to strength, and his presentation on their low-alpha alumina materials showed why they’re becoming a global leader delivering higher purity, lower cost, and immense potential. With surging power demand from AI servers, the heat generated by GPU chips has become a real challenge. Alpha’s product, which is 30 times better than silica at thermal conduction, is helping to solve this problem by reducing chip heat output – a game-changing innovation.
Finally, Cori Stewart from ARM HUB delivered a powerful session on AI readiness. Her point that most organisations don’t manage their data in a structured way to fully leverage AI really struck a chord with me. I’ll definitely be taking the AI Readiness Assessment for our own organisation to explore how we can better use data to drive smarter, more efficient operations.
Overall, the conference was an excellent showcase of Central Queensland’s capabilities, ambitions, and the collaboration driving its industrial evolution and acknowledgement and thanks must be paid to Alison Murdoch, the GEA team and all event sponsors, supporters and attendees who made 2025’s event and huge success.
