AN Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed $17 million bioenergy facility, east of Nowra, will hopefully be lodged by the end of the month.
Innovating Energy has proposed the project for the site of the former Nowra Wastewater Treatment Plant at Terara.
A special community drop-in information session in Nowra has outlined the project, providing residents and groups more information on the proposal.
The Nowra Bioenergy Facility Project will see manure from 19 local dairy farms, all but one in Terara, Numbaa, Pyree and Brundee, used to generate renewable electricity and biofertiliser.
Innovating Energy founder and director Phillip Horan said the proposal is a win/win for farmers and the environment.
“The whole premise of the project is to collect manure from local dairy farmers, mixed in with local clean food waste to create biogas, which will in turn run a generator and produce electricity,” he said.
The plant will initially produce a constant 2.2 megawatts, which can power 20,000 homes.
Some of the produced power will be sold to the local dairy farmers at reduced rate and the remainder will be sold to the grid, with the plant connected to the grid through Endeavour Energy.
Farmers will also benefit from the end product, a nutrient rich fertiliser, which can be applied to paddocks.
It is projected the plant, which will be built on the same footprint as the former wastewater treatment plant site off Terara Road, which was replaced in 2017, once operational will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and will eventually produce an ongoing 3.3 megawatts of power.
“Bioenergy plants working on biogas are baseload power, they are not like wind and solar which are intermittent – this is going all the time,” Mr Horan said.
The project is being developed with the help of $3 million grant assistance under the federal government’s Microgrid Energy Initiative.
The project will cost between $17 and $20 million, with Innovating Energy director David Ryan saying the project is “fully funded”, with the remainder of the funds coming from a partner in the project.
“We want to collect as much manure as possible from local farms,” Mr Horan said.
“Given cows in Australia farms are predominantly on pasture, we will be collecting from the feed pads, the milking area and hardstand, mix the manure with clean food waste collected from local supermarkets, clubs, pubs and food processing companies to create biogas, which will in turn run a generator and produce electricity.”
Effectively turning waste products into renewable energy.
Three methods will be used to collect the manure on farm.
Tankers will be used to transport collected manure back to the plant, while a new piece of equipment called a manure vacuum truck, which has been nicknamed the “Poover”, will be used to vacuum up manure from feed pad areas etc.
On some farms, the process will include a “screw press” which will separate manure slurry, leaving what is called in the industry, ‘greenwater’, on the farm, which the farmers can use on the properties, with the solid waste then directed into bins for collection.
The collected waste is then transported to the plant where the process of conversion into biogas begins.
Another storage possibility is a product available from Flexibladder, a local business that produces massive bladders, which can hold up to one million litres of greenwater which can stay on farm.
The project will also see a reduction in the possibility of waste water and manure escaping from the farms or leaching into the environment. In fact within 18-months to two years it is envisaged retention ponds where manure waste is currently being collected on farms will not be needed.
Mr Horan said the project would see around 21 transport movements a week and concerns over noise and any possible smell have been addressed in the EIS.
“We are what they call a ‘in vessel operation’,” Mr Horan said.
“Everything we do is done inside or in tanks. We have nothing outside – our process does not include ponds so there will be no smell.”
He said the company recognised odour and noise as two big issues for the community.
“Because everything is conducted in an enclosed environment there will be no smell.”
The tanker operations will only be undertaken on weekdays.
“There will be no movements over weekends and our collection schedules will work in with the farmers so we don’t clash with any milking times,” he said.
“All we are waiting on at the moment is an approval,” Mr Ryan said.
It is envisaged once approval is granted, early works including earthworks can start, with construction in earnest scheduled for November, with the plant hopefully going live in early February.
The company says feedback for the proposal from local farmers and community has been positive.
