A region of vast potential and vital energy, Toowoomba also offers that rare commodity of lifestyle balance.

Toowoomba is making the most of its new role as the key gateway to the enormous energy reserves of the Surat Basin.

It could be said that Toowoomba has long been groomed for this role as, for well over a century, it has played a vital role as the gateway to the agricultural and coal wealth of the Darling Downs.

The recent developments in the coal seam gas industry – and its vast potential for responding to Australia’s energy needs – have added a dynamic new dimension to Toowoomba’s future.

Toowoomba’s role as an exchange and transhipment city for the agricultural produce of the Darling Downs continues to grow, but the city can easily extend its commercial and social infrastructure to support the Surat Basin resources industries.

Some, like Queensland Gas Company CEO Richard Cottee see Toowoomba as the principal city of a region that could become Australia’s equivalent of Germany’s famed industrial powerhouse, the Ruhr Valley.

Queensland Gas Company is the largest holder of certified coal seam gas reserves in the Surat Basin, with intricately mapped out plans to supply energy all the way to Sydney and across to the Queensland coast, including a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Gladstone that will supply the electricity generation and heavy transport industries.

QGC has its own 140 megawatt gas turbine power station at Condamine and joins the National Electricity Market this year. QGC’s plans are likely to further energise the Toowoomba region and offer opportunities for new energy-intensive industries.

Other resources players in the Surat Basin include CS Energy, Linc Energy, Santos, AGL and Arrow Energy, Xstrata Coal, Northern Energy, Symtech Resources and Cockatoo Coal.

Other benefits

A fascinating offshoot of the coal seam gas industry is its ability to move and store vast volumes of water that the process circulates underground.

QGC is at the forefront of exploring how this might be used to effectively ‘drought proof’ the region and supply communities and farms along its route, further boosting Toowoomba’s agribusiness services role.