Project update – February 2026

We hope you had a safe and enjoyable holiday season and wish you all the best for 2026. It was great to meet so many of you last year and we hope to meet more Woodstock locals this year.

Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) planning regulation changes

On 12 December 2025, the Queensland Government introduced changes to planning legislation, which made battery storage facility developments Impact Assessable. The Queensland Government’s State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) is now the assessment manager (decision maker) for these developments, rather than local Councils. This change also requires mandatory Social Impact Assessments (SIAs), Community Benefit Agreements and end-of-life battery management and recycling considerations for BESS developments.

What does this mean for the Supernode North BESS?

We had already submitted an Impact Assessable Development Application (DA) to Townsville City Council (TCC) for our Supernode North BESS (see attached Fact Sheet), which is part of our proposed Northern Quartz Campus project in the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct (LEIP). Our DA was open for public notification between 14 November and 5 December 2025 and we thank those who provided feedback about the project. We also commenced scoping a then-voluntary SIA for the BESS, and undertook consultation about our proposed Community Partnership Program.

The changed legislation means we are required to resubmit our DA to SARA for assessment and the DA will again be available for public feedback. The application will remain largely the same, with additional information included to address the above planning law changes. We will notify the community of the public consultation period once it is announced by SARA.

You can also have your say on Supernode North BESS through our SIA process.

Regional SIA

Independent consultants, Elliott Whiteing, with support from Roundtable Engagement and

Communications, are finalising the voluntary Regional SIA for our proposed projects, which include:

• Northern Quartz Campus – Supernode North BESS
• Northern Quartz Campus – metallurgical silicon production facility including a biochar plant
• two proposed solar farms to the north-west of the LEIP.

The Regional SIA assesses the potential impacts and benefits of our projects to nearby communities including changes to amenity, local values, employment, housing, wellbeing, and business opportunities. The SIA incorporates feedback from 30 Woodstock residents as well as Traditional Owners, community organisations, TCC, and government agencies.

Key themes from consultation with Woodstock community members included:

• The importance of privacy, self-reliance, rural lifestyle, and access to open space and natural environments.
• Concerns about project related noise, impacts on local character, population influx, community safety, traffic, flooding, emissions and changes to environmental qualities.
• A desire to maintain rural lifestyle, beautify the area, develop a village 'heart' in Woodstock, increase local employment and business opportunities, and protect the Ross River catchment.

Further Regional SIA findings will be shared with the community once the report is finalised.

Individual project SIAs

Work has started on individual SIAs for the above projects. Community feedback provided during Regional SIA consultation will be incorporated into these assessments.

Find out more about SIAs here.

Supernode North BESS

The first individual assessment will be for our Supernode North BESS project.

Have your say on the Supernode North BESS to inform the SIA by contacting community@roundtablecomms.com.au or 0475 065 105 by COB Friday 13 March 2026.

You can also register with Roundtable to provide your input into the other individual project SIAs when they are undertaken in the coming months.

Community Partnership Program update

We are developing a Community Partnership Program based on the feedback we received from locals last year. People told us they wanted Solquartz and Private Energy Partners to:

• invest in community infrastructure, support community events and initiatives, and provide training and development opportunities for local people
• support initiatives of the Rural Fire Brigade, Woodstock State School and the Pony Club, and community events including Christmas celebrations, CWA cent sales, the school fair, and training programs for community groups including First Aid and food handling courses
• prioritise funding for Woodstock and surrounding areas
• create a Community Reference Group (CRG), to help Solquartz and Private Energy Partners administer the program, and ensure the CRG has diverse representation, including community groups and clubs, schools, local businesses, and emergency services.

We will share more information about the program with the community when it becomes available.

Site investigations

Site investigations for the Northern Quartz Campus and the solar farms are continuing, including helicopter-based aerial photography of the locations.