FIELD NOTE | QME MACKAY 2026
21–23 July 2026 | Mackay Showgrounds, Queensland
WHAT I SAW AT QME
QME brought together the mining, engineering, equipment and services ecosystem in Mackay. The official event information describes QME as Queensland’s largest regional mining event, with more than 300 suppliers and more than 5,000 visitors in 2024. For CIMC ENRIC, the value of the exhibition was not only the equipment on display. It was the opportunity to listen to local businesses that understand Australian sites, operating conditions, service expectations and the practical realities of mining customers.
The conversations also confirmed that many potential partners already work around diesel standby generation, site services, modular buildings or industrial equipment. This creates a practical starting point for cooperation: CIMC ENRIC does not have to replace an existing market overnight. We can work with local partners to add gas power, BESS, EMS and containerised energy systems where they solve a real operating problem.
PHOTO WALL | QME MACKAY 2026
[Photo 1 – Arrival at Mackay Showgrounds]
[Photo 2 – Meeting with a potential local partner]
[Photo 3 – Discussion with a diesel generator and service company]
[Photo 4 – Group photo with QME contacts and partners]
[Photo 5 – Mining and energy equipment on the exhibition floor]
This space will be updated with photographs from QME Mackay 2026.
MY VIEW OF THE AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET
Australia should not be approached as a market where the answer is always “replace diesel with gas”. The first question is not which equipment we want to sell. The first question is what the site is actually trying to solve.
In many Australian locations, electricity itself is not necessarily unavailable. The more relevant needs are often timing, flexibility and reliability: reducing peak demand, shifting energy to the right time of day, integrating renewables, supporting critical loads, optimising diesel standby assets, or avoiding unnecessary network upgrades.
This is where BESS, EMS and modular power systems can create value. A battery can respond quickly to peaks and short-duration fluctuations. An energy management system can coordinate the battery, the grid, renewable generation and standby generators. A gas generator may add efficient firm power where the fuel source, operating profile and project economics make sense. The right answer may be a hybrid system rather than one single technology.
WHERE GAS POWER IS MOST LOGICAL
Based on the conversations at QME, the most credible natural-gas opportunities are likely to be concentrated industrial parks, mining-related infrastructure, large camps, processing facilities and other sites where there is a clear gas source and a sufficiently stable energy demand.
LPG may be more practical in some smaller or dispersed commercial and residential applications because it can be delivered through established logistics. Natural gas is different. Compared with diesel, gas is more difficult to store and its availability depends much more on infrastructure, pressure, quality, transport and continuity of supply.
This leads to an important commercial principle: long-term distributed gas generation is difficult to justify unless the site has a reliable and competitively delivered gas source. If there is surplus gas, pipeline access, associated gas, biogas or another dependable source, gas-to-power may become an attractive way to reduce operating costs or improve energy flexibility. Without that fuel source, a discussion about diesel-to-gas conversion is premature.
Before discussing a diesel-to-gas project, we need to understand:
• Where does the gas come from?
• What is the delivered gas price and availability profile?
• What pressure, composition and quality are available?
• How many operating hours and what load profile does the site have?
• What is the required backup arrangement when gas supply is interrupted?
• What are the site access, permitting, safety and maintenance requirements?
• Is the customer solving fuel cost, peak demand, emissions, reliability or a combination of these?
In other words, talking about diesel-to-gas conversion without first understanding the gas source is putting the solution before the problem.
THE ROLE OF LOCAL PARTNERS
Australian customers place strong importance on local capability, Australian-made content where practical, reliable after-sales service and fast access to qualified technicians and spare parts. Technology and price are important, but they are not enough to build long-term confidence in a mining or industrial project.
This is why CIMC ENRIC’s approach in Australia needs to remain open and flexible. A local partner may already have customer access, site knowledge, diesel generator experience, service technicians, transport capability or project design expertise. CIMC ENRIC can contribute modular and transportable energy systems, gas-to-power solutions, BESS, EMS, containerised integration and supply-chain capability.
Potential cooperation models include:
• Local sales and customer development;
• Local commissioning, service and maintenance;
• Diesel standby optimisation and hybridisation;
• Gas generator and BESS project development;
• Energy-as-a-Service or asset ownership models;
• Modular camp, industrial park and remote-site energy solutions;
• Local fabrication or assembly where Australian content is important.
THE STEP BEFORE A PROPOSAL
A formal proposal should not be the first document exchanged. The more valuable first step is a structured project assessment.
For each opportunity, we need to build a preliminary picture of the site: load profile, peak demand, operating hours, fuel source, gas availability, existing generator fleet, battery opportunity, network constraints, site conditions, delivery route, service expectations and target timeline.
Only after this first calculation can we decide whether the best route is:
• Optimising the existing diesel system;
• Adding BESS and EMS;
• Introducing gas generation;
• Developing a gas plus BESS microgrid;
• Using LPG for a specific application;
• Retaining diesel as backup while reducing runtime; or
• Combining several of these options.
This approach helps local partners explain the opportunity to their customers with confidence. It also helps CIMC ENRIC avoid forcing a technology into a site where the fuel source or operating case does not support it.
NEXT STEPS AFTER QME
The next stage is to continue discussions with Australian diesel generator companies, service providers, modular building companies, asset owners and project developers. The objective is to identify real customer pain points and complete early-stage calculations together.
For a potential partner, the starting question is simple:
What is the customer’s current energy problem, and what prevents them from solving it today?
From there, CIMC ENRIC can jointly evaluate the available fuel, the load, the peak-shaving opportunity, the required reliability and the most practical path to a pilot project.
QME reinforced my view that the Australian market is not a simple equipment-export market. It is a local ecosystem market. Success will depend on combining CIMC ENRIC’s modular energy-system capability with Australian customer understanding, local service and disciplined project development.
The right energy solution begins with the site, the fuel source and the operating problem — not with a technology looking for a place to be used.
If you are evaluating standby power, gas generation, BESS, microgrids or modular energy infrastructure in Australia, please contact us with your load profile, fuel source, site conditions and target timeline. CIMC ENRIC can help develop the first engineering route before a formal proposal.
Source: Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition (QME) official website – www.queenslandminingexpo.com.au
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