PWR to invest $22 million in expansion, open new factory

Gold Coast-based cooling solutions company PWR Advanced Cooling Technology has been awarded “up to $8.78 million” through the state government’s Invested in Queensland program to assist in an expansion.

According to a statement from trade and investment minister Cameron Dick on Friday, PWR will invest $21.9 million in a new facility at Stapylton and in new equipment over three years, boosting current production capacity by 114 per cent.

“We are excited to be building an advanced manufacturing facility that will accelerate our growth into aerospace, defence and the renewable energy sectors from right here on the Gold Coast,” said PWR Managing Director Kees Weel.

“While we have operations in the US and Europe, PWR is headquartered in Queensland and is a Queensland success story.”

The company said it expects to create as many as 488 new jobs over the next decade – more than doubling a current headcount of 340 – and to open the new site in 2025.

“The new facility is expected to support new innovation and technology that will enable PWR to remain at the cutting edge of cooling technologies and grow their exports and take advantage of emerging markets,” added Dick.

The company was founded in 1997 by Weel and his son Paul, a former V8 Supercar driver. According to its website, Kees began building what is now the company’s headquarters and manufacturing facility at Ormeau, on the Gold Coast, in 2006.

It also has operations at Indianapolis in the United States and at Rugby in the United Kingdom. 

PWR supplies cooling technology for V8 Supercars, Formula 1 and NASCAR, as well as to defence and aerospace customers, and parent company PWR Holdings has been listed on the ASX since 2015.

Approximately 80 per cent of what PWR makes is exported, and it supplies heat exchangers to every F1 race team.

Picture: credit PWR Advanced Cooling Technology

Further reading

PWR’s investment in expansion pays off

Defence industry partnering for success – how PWR went from F1 to drone technologies

PWR and aluminium specialist Constellium to partner on heat exchangers