New energy-from-waste facility to generate hundreds of jobs in WA

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Image Credit: Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $23 million in funding to help build Australian-first energy-from-waste project.

Located 40 km south of Perth in WA, the $668 million facility will recover energy from waste, delivering approximately 36 MW of baseload electricity capacity – enough to power 50,000 households.

The plant, which is co-developed by Macquarie Capital and Phoenix Energy, will also be capable of processing commercial and industrial waste and construction and demolition waste.

The Kwinana energy-from-waste facility will be built by Acciona and operated by Veolia, producing an ash by-product which is commonly used as road base or in building and construction in Europe.

The project is expected to generate more than 800 jobs during construction and 60 full-time jobs once operational, with construction to commence this month.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the facility, which will use Keppel Seghers moving grate technology, will divert up to 400,000 tonnes per year of municipal solid waste from non-recyclable curbside collection.

“The use of combustion grate technology is well established in Europe and North America but has not yet been deployed in Australia,” Mr Miller continued.

“More than 23 million tonnes of municipal solid waste is produced annually in Australia and this project could help to divert non-recyclable waste from landfill and recover energy in the process.”

Macquarie Capital Executive Director Chris Voyce added:

“The project is an example of the public and private sectors coming together to deliver a long-term solution to dual issues of dealing with the ever-growing pressures on landfill and generating low-carbon energies that are sustainable and reliable.”

“We look forward to working with our team of financiers, and design, construction and operation specialists as we deliver this significant project for the community,” Mr Voyce concluded.

The facility is expected to be completed by late 2021.

Image credit: arena.gov.au