Best of the week — the five most popular stories among @AuManufacturing’s readers

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading.

5) Hydrogen energy company Endua raises $11.8 million

Green energy company Endua announced that it has raised $7.5 million in pre-series private funding, with new investors including Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), Melt Ventures and 77 Partners.

The company launched in 2021 with $5 million in backing from Main Sequence and Ampol.

Since then it has also been awarded $4.3 million in grants, including from the Cooperative Research Centre Projects, the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, and the Accelerating Commercialisation initiative.

4) Premcar launches its latest modified Nissan Patrol Warrior – video

Melbourne automotive manufacturer Premcar has been given the green light by Nissan Australia to develop and produce the newest model to join its modified Nissan Warrior programme – the Patrol Warrior.

Following Nissan’s earlier announcement that its flagship Y62-series Patrol was under assessment to join its Australia-based Warrior range, the go ahead will see wheel, tyre and suspension enhancements feature in the Patrol Warrior’s forthcoming Australian engineering programme.

The modification designed for off-road work give greater ground clearance, a wider stance and enhanced ride and handling, with Premcar teasing the model’s upcoming release in a video (shown at the link.)

3) CSL’s biggest manufacturing investment reaches milestone 

Vaccine company CSL Seqirus announced the ‘topping out’ of the construction of its biggest investment project, its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Melbourne.

The facility will use innovative technology to produce seasonal and pandemic cell-based influenza vaccines, CSL Seqirus’ vaccine adjuvant technology (MF59), the world’s only approved human vaccine for Q fever and antivenoms for venomous creatures native to Australia.

The site in Tullamarine, Melbourne, will have a gross floor area of 28,400m2 across three key buildings.

2) WA hydrogen project receives pre-certification as green

Frontier Energy’s Bristol Springs green hydrogen production project which aims to be one of the lowest-cost in Australia has received pre-certification from the Smart Energy Council.

The project is located 120km from Perth in the South West of Western Australia and is planned to include a 36 mw electrolyser powered by a 114-megawatt solar farm.

The Company completed a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) on the Project in 2023 which found that an investment of $242.5 million could produce 4.9 million kilograms of green hydrogen per annum.

1) First exports roll out from Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions

Defence manufacturer Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions’ Queensland artillery shell plant has made its first export shipment to its customer in Germany, as the new factory is moving towards full-rate production.

The Maryborough factory’s workforce has more than doubled to 60 since this time last year, with another 30 vacancies to be filled by July.

Rheinmetall Waffe Munitions CEO and Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions Chairman Roman Koehne toured the $90 million facility for the first time and congratulated the team on the first international shipment to Germany.

And in case you missed our podcast…

In episode 61 of @AuManufacturing Conversations with Brent Balinski, we heard from Samsara Eco’s founder and CEO Paul Riley about how the company’s “enzymatic depolymerisation” technology works, why he believes it’s the only “true recycling” (rather than downcycling) option for plastic, why the nation needs to reverse the hollowing out of its polymers industry, and more.

Picture: Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions/a 155mm projectile on the Maryborough production line (supplied)