A waste to energy facility is proposed to be established in Wollert to increase the recovery of materials currently being sent to landfill and to use these materials in the generation of energy that will be exported to the electricity grid.
The facility, the Melbourne Energy and Resource Centre, MERC, proposed by Cleanaway is in line with the Victorian Government’s circular economy policy for the recovery of energy and other resources from residual waste, through the Victorian Waste to Energy Framework.
There is presently one existing waste to energy facility operating in Wollert at Yarra Valley Water’s Aurora sewage treatment plant, generating enough energy to power the facility and the sewage treatment plant.
The Aurora facility became fully operational in May 2017. It processes a broad range of commercial food waste, turning it into renewable energy.
The Environment Protection Authority, EPA, Victoria is presently assessing the MERC application.
The EPA has advised that the proposed facility would see up to 380,000 tonnes of waste material that would otherwise have gone to landfill used in the process.
“The waste to energy process is forecast to generate approximately 46.3 megawatt (MW) gross of electricity, 4.7MW of which would be used to power the facility itself. The remainder of 41.6MW would be exported to the grid as base load electricity,” an EPA spokesperson said.
The proposal also states that 99.9 per cent of the flue gas produced will be gases common to air, including oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapour.
“The remaining pollutants will be treated with modern technology to meet stringent emission limits,” the proposal states.
Waste ash produced from the process would be treated at the facility to be used as an alternative construction product. Metals will be recovered from waste ash for recycling and sale.
The public submission and comment period for the development licence application was open from February 20 to April 14.
Many of the submissions received argue against the construction of the facility on the grounds of its negative impact on the surrounding environment.
EPA will now review the submissions as part of the application assessment process. If approved the facility will come into operation in 2029.