Council has posted some runs on the board from its most recent trip to China, with the mayor hoping it could lead to a sparkling investment.
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Tamworth Regional Council signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Dezhou-based company Tongyu, this week.
The Chinese company is looking to explore opportunities in the renewable energy sector in Tamworth, with vice chairman Yong Si making a visit to town.
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While it’s a “non-binding MOU”, mayor Col Murray said it could evolve into a more formal and lucrative arrangement.
“Firstly, Mr Si, whose father actually owns the Tongyu group, he’s here with a senior representative from the international banking sector form the Commbank,” Cr Murray said.
“He’s here to run the ruler over Tamworth a bit with a view to progressing on and then we’re expecting that Mr Si senior will visit Tamworth probably in October.”
The Leader revealed last month council’s most recent trip to China had netted talks with a company looking at putting a roof over the Tamworth airport carpark which could capture solar energy.
Cr Murray told The Leader the MOU could also blossom into “another solar project and [it] could well be in the order of $150 million-plus”.
“To me if the potential investment of this size, the number of jobs that would be created out of that would be an enormous return on that small amount of money that was invested by the council, but time will tell,” he said.
“The one at the airport will be a much smaller project, the benefit to Tamworth Regional Council will be some power to the airport.
“The larger project we have in mind getting power to the sewerage treatment plant which is a very large user of power.” Mr Si said this would be the company’s first investment in Australia if this anything goes ahead.
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
