RGM Maintenance is constructing an $18.8 million Defence and Hydrogen Maintenance Hub in the Cleveland Bay Industrial Park in North Queensland, which will serve as the next-generation centre for green-powered trucking fleets and Australian Defence Force (ADF) heavy vehicles.
The new hub is expected to boost Townsville’s renewables supply chain and ensure ADF heavy vehicles have a bigger and better specialist facility for maintenance and repairs.
Queensland’s Acting Premier Steven Miles said the new facility will be the first North Queensland centre specialising in end-to-end sales, repair, and maintenance of clean, green EV and hydrogen heavy transport.
It will also serve as a major link in North Queensland’s growing renewable energy supply chain.
“The hub will put North Queensland and Townsville on the map as a key location for new-generation heavy-vehicle fleets. It also reinforces Queensland’s position as Australia’s khaki state offering essential services to support ADF ground transport operations,” Miles said.
The new Defence and Hydrogen Maintenance Hub will support the creation of 65 jobs in addition to the existing 62 staff now employed at RGM’s existing Townsville operations. It will also support the training of additional skilled workers in renewables transport maintenance.
The project received backing from the Queensland Government as part of its Industry Partnership program and aligns with the state’s new-industry development strategy, which seeks to develop sectors that will be crucial to global decarbonisation efforts.
“The Defence and Hydrogen Maintenance Hub is a huge step forward for next-generation heavy transport in North Queensland,” said Greg Jackson, director of RGM Maintenance.
“There is enormous potential for EV and hydrogen vehicles in the heavy transport sector and the hub will help put Townsville at the forefront of this expanding sector,” he added.
Construction work on the hub is expected to begin in late 2024 and is slated for completion in late 2025.
