State-owned Verve Energy is seeking a partner to invest $50 million into building WA's first commercial Integrated Wood Processing plant in the wheatbelt, after seven years of research and trials confirmed the viability of the technology.
State-owned Verve Energy is seeking a partner to invest $50 million into building WA's first commercial Integrated Wood Processing plant in the wheatbelt, after seven years of research and trials confirmed the viability of the technology.
Verve this week called on interested parties to submit expressions of interest, the first step in the process which could result in a full-sized commercial plant and potentially a new industry for WA.
This follows a successful trial of the technology at an IWP demonstration plant at Narrogin, fuelled by oil mallee trees supplied by Fremantle-based Oil Mallee Company, and operated by Verve with financial support from government.
The new plant will use about 20 million trees to produce between 5-7 MW of renewable electricity, in addition to potential by-products such as activated carbon and eucalyptus oil.
Verve Energy general manager, trading and sustainability Greg Denton said the company had received a number of enquiries about the results of the trial, and was confident of the economic viability of the project.
"A lot of the risk is now behind us, so investors can come in with the confidence that what we're doing is technically feasible," Mr Denton said.
In addition to being a suitable fuel stock for biofuel production and power generation, oil mallees also help re-dress soil salinity, improves soil conditions and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
The "alley farming" method of growing oil mallees also has the added advantage of occupying only 10 per cent of total farming land, leaving the remaining 90 per cent available for other crops
The full text of a company announcement is pasted below
After almost seven years of investigation, Verve Energy is seeking partners to build the first commercial Integrated Wood Processing plant possibly in the WA Wheatbelt.
Parties interested in joining Verve Energy in this challenging renewable energy initiative were invited this week to submit expressions of interest.
This is the first step in a process, which could result in a full sized commercial plant being built; and potentially a new industry for WA.
Using about 20 million mallee trees grown on Wheatbelt plantations, a single plant will be capable of producing multiple products - up to 5MW of renewable electricity, activated carbon and eucalyptus oil.
The IWP concept addresses two of the big environmental challenges - of climate change and dryland salinity - as well as boosting regional development.
This commercial project will capitalise on the successful $19 million IWP demonstration plant built and operated by Verve Energy at Narrogin with considerable State and Federal Government financial support. The demonstration plant confirmed that the three mature technologies, which separately produce electricity, activated carbon and eucalyptus oil, do operate together successfully in an integrated plant.
Since the completion of this successful trial, which was the first in Australia, Verve Energy has received numerous enquiries about the results and possible applications of the technology in commercial sized plants, says Greg Denton, GM Trading and Sustainable Energy.
There is no doubt that this is one of the most exciting development opportunities in the renewable energy sector. Potentially, this project will go some to reducing greenhouse gases as well as improving the quality of electricity supplies in regional areas of WA where the plant will be located.
Planting 20 million mallee trees, as well as being the fuel stock for this innovative project, will help redress soil salinity which is one of the scourges of the Wheatbelt. Results from the Verve Energy trials have confirmed that the mallee plantations have the desired result of improving soil conditions.
The opportunity exists for Integrated Wood Processing plants to be built in the WA Wheatbelt, other parts of Australia, and potentially overseas.
Parties interested in participating in the commercialisation of this exciting technology should contact Verve Energy.
