Project Update Week ending 9 November 2018 Expression of Interest for solar farm to help power Eastern Treatment Plant 30 October Melbourne Water has released an Expression The Expression of Interest period will close on of Interest (EOI) as part of a plan to develop a 27 November 2018. new solar farm at the Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP) in Bangholme. Melbourne Water will apply for permits under the relevant local Council planning schemes The proposed solar farm is planned to be which will include an opportunity for public located on Melbourne Water land opposite comment before any preliminary works can ETP and generate renewable electricity to commence at either site. help meet the power needs of the treatment plant. The community will be provided with an update regarding the outcomes of the EOI The Expression of Interest document is also process including the details of any proposed calling for proposals to help establish a development at ETP and Winneke when second solar farm at the Winneke Water further information is available. Treatment Plant near Christmas Hills. Melbourne Water’s ETP opened in 1975, is situated on 1100 hectares of land in Carrum Melbourne Water is committed to reducing its Downs and treats approximately 330 million net carbon emissions to zero by 2030. litres of sewage a day - 40 per cent of Melbourne’s total sewage. The proposed solar farms are one initiative designed to help meet this ambitious goal and For further information please go will play a role alongside other projects to www.melbournewater.com.au/solarproject including hydro-power stations and the s/carrum-downs transition of Melbourne Water’s car fleet to Interested parties can contact Melbourne zero emissions vehicles. Water on call 1800 931 978. The establishment of a new, onsite solar farm Source: Melbourne Water to help power ETP is a practical way for Melbourne Water to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, and tackle climate change. Both solar farm projects are still in the planning stage and the EOI process will assist with the development of designs. Page 1 (Click on relevant project links to go to online Project Database) One million solar panels Retail customers are also able to purchase 30 October solar panels in these ‘off-site’ farms and have Nelson-based power company NextGen Energy the power delivered directly to them at has today announced its commitment to long- substantial discounts compared to the term, large-scale solar power generation in NZ traditional rooftop solar model. with details of a $300m private investment program over the next 10 years to build solar All surplus power will be used to support the and energy storage assets around the country. work of social agencies working with those NextGen has brought together skills and families most affected by rising power prices. funding from an international consortium and The social enterprise company operates as a this program represents the largest investment not-for-profit, uniquely donating all net in renewables in NZ for many years. profits to local schools and charities. NextGen Energy has tried in vain to engage Source: NextGen Energy with central government over the past 5 years, and this announcement clearly identifies NextGen Energy as the only power company in NZ deeply committed to large NEW PROJECT grid-scale solar energy generation. McLaren Vale Solar Farm Location: Southern Region Waste Resource “NextGen Energy is creating disruptive Authority (SRWRA) site at McLaren Vale, opportunities within the NZ electricity sector, South Australia and actively pursues the adoption of new Capacity: 2.3 MW technologies.” says Mark Binskin, COO. Developer: LMS Energy “NextGen is already supplying retail power Expected cost: $3.5mil across a number of lines company regions, Description: No earthworks are required for but our underlying strategy requires us to the proposed solar farm. The solar panels are generate that electricity ourselves in order to connected in small arrays and are able to be guarantee low-price power.” placed directly on the ground. The proposed solar modules do not have any supporting NextGen has entered into multi-year strategic posts or elevated frames. At their highest supply and logistics programs with major point, they are up to 600 millimetres high. The global partners to support the rollout of one development will utilise 5B’s Maverick million solar panels, constructed in technology, a modular pre-fabricated PV distributed, decentralized farms across the system built up from 12 kW array blocks. The country. Typical solar farm sized are in the solar panels are expected to produce order of 1-2MW (3 – 6,000 panels). Resource approximately 4.4 MWh per annum which will consents applications for the first 10,000 be exported to the grid. The proposed panels in two locations across the Top of the development comprises: South are now under way. - the installation of 8,096 ground mounted photovoltaic panels Binskin says “The ability to guarantee price - 46 photovoltaic inverters affordability into the future and to fix those - 2 high voltage transformers prices against spot market volatility is core to - electrical cabling (linking solar modules), and NextGen’s social and equitable programs. The - underground powerline connecting the solar company is seeking to engage with central panels to the grid. and local government and lines companies to Contact: Oliver Scheidegger develop community-owned generation assets, LMS Energy as well as supporting businesses to transition Tel: (08) 8291 9044 to low-carbon electricity by purchasing their Email: [email protected] own ‘solar farm’.” Page 2 (Click on relevant project links to go to online Project Database) HZI Consortium signs 20-year recovery process after all attempts to reuse and recycle have been exhausted. waste supply agreement with City of Cockburn Enzo Gullotti, Chairman of New Energy 2 November Corporation (New Energy), a Perth-based The City of Cockburn, a local government area waste-to-energy company and member of the of Perth, Western Australia (WA), has signed consortium, which has been developing the an agreement with a consortium led by East Rockingham site since 2013, noted, Hitachi Zosen Inova to supply waste to the “Waste to Energy projects should not and East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility need not impede higher-order recovery (RRF) for a minimum of 20 years. The contract processes for waste streams. Our contracting bolsters WA’s long-term waste management structure allows councils to recover as much strategy, under which Energy from Waste is resources from waste as they can and to regarded as an integral part of sustainable educate communities on minimizing waste resource recovery. generation.” On November 2nd, a consortium led by Waste Supply Contract Cost-Saving and Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) signed an agreement Compliant with Local Waste Reduction with the City of Cockburn (Cockburn) for the Schemes supply of waste to the East Rockingham Under the terms of the agreement, the City of Resource Recovery Facility for a minimum of Cockburn will supply its residual waste to the 20 years. RRF on a “waste arising basis”, i.e. it will only pay for capacity it uses. This means there is no The agreement comes after the HZI penalty for implementing waste reduction consortium was named as preferred tenderer schemes, such as waste avoidance, reduction, to process residual waste from the Perth and introducing a third bin for compostable Metro Area at an Energy from Waste (EfW) organic waste. facility in March this year. City of Cockburn Waste Manager Lyall Cockburn has undertaken a rigorous process Davieson said the WSA represented significant to evaluate the best possible waste treatment savings for ratepayers and would furthermore technologies available worldwide and also to divert greater volumes of waste from landfill. identify the best contracting models available He went on: “Waste disposal at landfill sites for local government. attracts an ever-increasing State Government landfill levy, which is currently $70 per tonne. The HZI technology was chosen based on The State Government has determined that numerous international credentials as well as no further landfills will be approved on the the contracting model, which allows Cockburn Swan Coastal Plain. The EfW process is the flexibility to revise and improve waste environmentally favorable to landfill in that management practices continually going calorific materials are converted for energy forward. production.” EfW as Integral Part of WA’s Draft Waste The East Rockingham Resource Recovery Strategy Facility will convert approximately 330,000 The finalization of the waste supply tonnes of waste per year into clean, agreement (WSA) coincides with the release renewable energy, producing 29 megawatts of WA’s Draft Waste Strategy 2030, through of baseload electricity. This is enough to which the WA Government acknowledges for power 36,000 homes. The project represents the first time that energy recovery from a $400 million private sector investment in residual waste is a legitimate resource the Perth metro area, creating 300 jobs during Page 3 (Click on relevant project links to go to online Project Database) construction and 50 full-time jobs throughout FRV signs Power Purchase its 30+-year operating life. Agreement for its sixth solar Strong Consortium for Integrated Waste project in Australia Treatment Solutions 5 November The consortium that has developed and will - FRV has reached an agreement with Snowy deliver the project is led by HZI, a global Hydro, one of the main electricity generation leader in EfW technology and turnkey delivery and retailing companies in Australia. of waste-to-energy projects. HZI’s partners in - Goonumbla Solar Farm will produce enough the project are New Energy Corporation and clean energy to supply more than 45,000 Tribe Infrastructure Group, an international homes and avoid the emission of 140,000 advisory and investment firm specializing in tons of CO2 per year.