Biogas technology for the utilization of agricultural residues is gaining international traction. Lower Saxony-based plant manufacturer Weltec Biopower has signed a contract with Australian vegetable producer Kalfresh and will build the first stage of a bioenergy facility in Kalbar, Queensland.
The facility is set to anchor the new Scenic Rim Agricultural Industrial Precinct, a food-processing industrial estate. Weltec’s plant equipment is due to arrive on site in late August, when construction of the first anaerobic digestion tank will begin. The first stage comprises a fermenter with a diameter of 31.48 meters and a height of 8.8 meters, along with a digestate storage tank, controlled via the Weltec Control System.
Circular Economy from Crop Residues
The facility will convert crop residues, processing offcuts and other agricultural waste from Kalfresh into biogas and a nutrient-rich digestate. The digestate is to be returned to farmland as biofertilizer, forming part of Kalfresh’s circular economy strategy spanning from field production to energy generation. According to industry media reports, the precinct could ultimately comprise up to 14 fermenters at full build-out, with the resulting energy output theoretically sufficient to supply around 31,000 households or, alternatively, to fuel up to 98 million kilometers of truck and bus travel.
German Plant Technology for Australian Agribusiness
Kalfresh, founded in 1992 and owned by several farming families, is a vegetable business based in Kalbar in South-East Queensland. The vertically integrated company grows, washes, packs and markets vegetables such as carrots, beans, onions and corn and, according to the company, ranks among Australia’s leading vertically integrated vegetable operations. To bring internationally proven digestion technology into its own operations, Kalfresh sent a group of farmers from Queensland to Germany in April to visit reference plants built by Weltec Biopower. Kalfresh CEO Richard Gorman explained the choice of technology partner: “For us, it was critical to work with a partner that has a track record of delivering reliable, long-term infrastructure. This is proven technology, and we’re building it to last. We have visited many operational bioenergy sites overseas, including those designed and built by WELTEC. They have a reputation for designing efficient, high-quality systems that deliver consistently.”
Weltec Biopower CEO and Head of Sales Dirk Krumdieck said the contract was the result of several years of preparatory work: “We are excited to be delivering a flagship bioenergy project in Australia that combines Kalfresh’s agricultural innovation with our proven European biogas engineering experience.”
Market Entry for German Biogas Technology in Australia
For Weltec Biopower, the contract marks its entry into agricultural bioenergy projects in Australia. According to the company, it has planned, delivered and constructed more than 450 stainless-steel biogas plants in the US, Japan, Cyprus, the UK and other European countries to date since its founding in Vechta in 2001. The current project is to be realized in three construction phases, with the first stage — the fermenter and digestate storage tank — marking the start.
Australia’s Biogas Market: A Young Sector with Growth Potential
Australia has committed by law to a 43 percent emissions reduction by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. In addition, the government has set a political, though not legally binding, target of 82 percent renewable electricity generation in the National Electricity Market (NEM) by 2030, to be driven primarily by wind and solar power and supported by battery storage for grid stabilization. The government’s net-zero plan also names “clean fuels” — including biomethane — as a separate decarbonization priority, though without a quantified expansion target so far. According to EY Australia, the country’s biogas market itself is considered young but holds considerable growth potential. Current use of renewable gases remains limited: Australian biogas production and use stood at around 18 petajoules in 2023/24, while a study commissioned by Energy Networks Australia puts the country’s technical biomethane potential at around 400 petajoules per year — several times current utilization. Since July 2025, the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme (NGERS) has included biomethane and hydrogen in a market-based emissions accounting framework.
