Bioenergy investment boost for Victoria
In what is a significant boost to the bioenergy sector, Sustainability Victoria is delivering just over $8 million in funding through the Waste to Energy – Bioenergy Fund to projects that will create renewable energy from organic waste.
The funding, provided on behalf of the Victorian Government, will support 24 Victorian businesses to transition their operations to renewable energy, drive down their emissions and divert waste from landfill.
The projects are forecast to boost Victoria’s renewable energy capacity by an additional 6.8 megawatts (MW), enough to power 3,410 homes with renewable energy.
Matt Genever, Interim CEO of Sustainability Victoria, said, “This investment in bioenergy projects is a critical step in developing Victoria’s biogas industry.
“This funding supports our transition to renewable energy, while diverting organic waste from landfill and driving down emissions.”
According to a 2021 Sustainability Victoria biogas study, Victoria’s recoverable biogas potential is estimated to be between 5 – 10 per cent of Victoria’s annual natural gas usage.
The latest round of funding will support farming and food production, and other industry sectors to turn organic waste – including agricultural, livestock, food and wood waste – into electricity, heat, gas, or liquid fuel.
Goulburn Valley hydroponic tomato grower Katunga Fresh has received a grant of $1 million to turn spent tomato plants into a gas that will be used to heat their glasshouses, with excess gas returned to the grid.
Pioneers in the collection and conversion of landfill biogas-to-energy, LMS Energy will use its $550,000 grant to support the construction of a first-of-its-kind dry anaerobic digestion facility at the Wyndham Refuse Disposal Facility to recover biogas from 10,000 tonnes of organic material. The biogas will be converted to renewable energy and used to displace fossil fuels or act as a natural gas substitute.
In 2016 and 2019, Sustainability Victoria funded bioenergy projects through the Waste to Energy (W2E) Infrastructure Fund and Bioenergy Infrastructure Fund. Recipients from these programs are continuing to create bioenergy from organic waste, including Western Water’s waste to energy facility in Melton.
The facility uses anaerobic digestion to extract biogas from organic waste, such as fruit and vegetable scraps or oils and fats. This is then converted into electricity which powers the facility itself and other Western Water sites. This reduces reliance on the grid and electricity costs.
The latest round of funded projects will create up to 192 short term jobs and 29 long terms jobs – and new revenue streams for Victoria’s primary producers.
For more information see Waste to Energy: Bioenergy - Funded projects.