eLumina has officially opened Australia’s first factory capable of producing both community batteries and EV chargers, with the first model set to come off the production line in 2025.
The new $20 million manufacturing and development centre on the Gold Coast will strengthen Australia’s energy storage sector and help meet soaring global demand for batteries, with the factory set to produce 300 batteries and EV chargers a year and support up to 300 jobs on the Gold Coast.
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eLumina CEO Lisa Marsh said, “We are extremely proud to officially open our factory here in Yatala on the Gold Coast. We are ambitious to back 300 highly technical and sought-after jobs and we’re proud to partner with TAFE Queensland to support the training and pathways into these jobs.
“Our goal is for our next factory to be three times the size with the potential to employ up to 300 people directly and support many more.
“Our factory diversifies Australia’s manufacturing industry, building economic resilience and contributing to energy sovereignty and strengthening a ‘Gold Coast made’ economy.
“We’re proud to be contributing to Australia’s energy future through pushing the dial forward on battery storage to secure Australia’s energy future and support the transition to net-zero.”
Tech Council of Australia CEO Damian Kassabgi said, “Queensland, particularly on the Gold Coast is emerging as a tech hotspot and now also a manufacturing hub. Our goal is to have 1.2 million tech workers in Australia by 2030 and we’re proud to partner with Australian organisations like eLumina whose jobs are supporting the renewable energy sector.”
A key challenge is connectivity across Australia, particularly in regional and rural areas. eLumina’s partnership with Addelec is supporting the deployment of their battery-integrated EV chargers with a focus on regional connectivity.
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Addelec general manager Chris McPherson said, “When we look globally, especially at places like Europe with a high uptake of EVs, they’re navigating smaller and more densely populated areas. When we zoom out to the sheer size of Australia, we need to take a different approach.
“Considering existing power challenges across Australia, and in turn we hope to see an uptake in EV users across Australia.”
