BINDAREE Beef unveiled its pilot biogas plant in January 2013, and now the plans for their full-scale model are on display at the Inverell Shire Council offices as part of the development application for the $40 million project.
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From the very beginning, the scheme to generate electricity using methane produced from waste was a far-sighted and ambitious concept to drastically reduce their running costs.
As one of Australia’s largest meat processors, the proposed plant will bring Bindaree an estimated annual bottom line saving of $42 million in production costs.
The system is expected to be capable of generating 1.2 to 1.6 MW of electricity to provide a stable and highly reliable supply, along with a potential to sell power back into the grid.
Bindaree director, John Newton, said it would enable the company to grow its business and provide long-term employment opportunities for its workforce.
“This type of development is a first for the red meat abattoir industry in Australia, and if approved, will exceed current best practice for abattoir wastewater treatment,” he said.
An organic fertiliser and ‘Class A’ water were the by-products of the pilot plant and data collected from those studies estimated a 52 per cent reduction in the overall greenhouse gas emissions from the site.
An Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed full-scale bio-digester and rendering plant was lodged this week with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.
It found odour and dust will be generally reduced.
The project will be funded with $19.7 million from an Australian Government Clean Technology Investment Program grant announced in July 2013, and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will provide up to $15 million finance towards the project costs, which is also being co-financed by Bindaree’s own bank.
CEFC chief executive officer Oliver Yates said their non-concessional investment in the project further develops the biogas sector in Australia.
“Again we are demonstrating how waste can be transformed to real value,” he said.
“Bioenergy is a real business which is main-stream overseas. Biogas technology has not been embraced in Australia at significant scale, yet it should be.”
Mr Newton said securing finance from the CEFC had been integral to securing the interest of additional private finance.
The design of the plant originally came from the USA, and was redesigned by the Bindaree team to suit Australian conditions.
The system had been tried and proven overseas, but has never been pulled into one closed loop of zero discharge of waste before.
Construction at Bindaree is expected to start in January next year, and an estimated $1.65 million is predicted to be spent within Inverell Shire during that phase.