Westbury's $50m biohub wins $12.5m state backing, DA a year away

Solstice Energy and Optimal Renewable Gas have secured up to $12.5m in Tasmanian government funding for their proposed $50m renewable gas plant at Westbury, The Examiner reported on 27 October, with the Meander Valley Council project still without a lodged development application.

Why it matters

The funding commitment, approved through the Tasmanian Waste and Resource Recovery Board, is the clearest sign yet that the state intends to back the Westbury biohub, but it is not a planning approval and it is not a construction start. Solstice Energy’s Phaedra Deckart said the backing was a key milestone, not the final word on the project. “It’s a really important project, it turns a waste problem into an energy solution,” she said.

For developers and builders watching Tasmania’s renewable energy pipeline, the distinction matters. No application has gone to Meander Valley Council, the planning authority for the Westbury industrial precinct site. Community engagement is still to run before a DA is lodged, and the project’s construction start has already slipped once, from an original 2026 target. A funding tick from a state board de-risks the capital stack for a proponent, but it does not change what has to clear council and consultation first, and operators pricing supply contracts or construction work against this project should treat the current timeline as provisional until a DA is on the public record.

The plant would convert agricultural and industrial waste into biomethane and organic fertiliser. Poppy straw from Extractas is named as a key feedstock, alongside waste from meat processing and fish farming, giving the project a direct link to Tasmania’s established agribusiness sector rather than a greenfield feedstock supply chain still to be built.

State backing for Tasmanian energy projects has not always converted into full funding. A separate parliamentary inquiry heard that Firmus Technologies’ $2b Launceston data centre site was funded while its 288MW Bell Bay stage was not, a reminder that a state commitment on one part of a project does not guarantee the rest follows on the same timeline.

The numbers

The renewable gas produced could displace up to 3% of Tasmania’s gas demand once operating, according to the proponents. The project is forecast to support 200 direct and indirect jobs across construction and operations. Meander Valley Council mayor Wayne Johnston said the council has supported the proposal for about a decade and that no negative feedback had reached him, a local track record that sits alongside the state’s funding decision but is separate from any formal planning approval.

What’s next

A development application is expected to be lodged with Meander Valley Council in the first half of 2027, after community consultation on the Westbury site. Construction is now targeted for early 2028, pushed back from the original 2026 timeline, with the plant aiming to begin operations in early 2029. Each of those dates depends on the DA clearing council assessment, which has not yet started. Environment Minister Guy Barnett framed the state funding as a win for both farmers and renewable energy supply, but the project’s own backers have been explicit that the funding decision is a milestone on the way to approval, not a substitute for it.