Renewables target on track

Western Australia’s renewable energy sector has received a welcome boost after Synergy announced it would purchase 40 megawatts of renewable energy from a proposed biomass plant near Bridgetown.

The government-owned energy retailer awarded the supply contract to operator Western Australia Biomass Pty Ltd, a consortium of Babcock and Brown, National Power and Carbon Solutions, after a year-long tender process.

While the plant is yet to obtain the necessary environmental and regulatory approvals, WA Biomass Pty Ltd has assured Synergy the plant would commence supply by the end of 2009, a requirement of the tender.

The proposal has attracted considerable community resistance, with local group, Stop the Smoke, coordinating regular lobbying activities in opposition of the plan.

WA Biomass Pty Ltd beat out a rival biomass proposal by SpiritWest Bioenergy Pty Ltd, which is 50 per cent owned by Perth-based Pacific Energy, at Neerabup Industrial Estate 30 kilometres north of the Perth CBD.

Synergy will also purchase 1MW of renewable energy from Waste Gas Resources Pty Ltd’s landfill gas project in Wattleup.

Synergy managing director Jim Mitchell told WA Business News the two projects chosen “were ahead of the rest of the pack” in terms of price and reliability of supply.

The biomass plant will burn plantation timber waste to generate electricity and, unlike other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, is able to provide baseload power.

An extra 40MW of renewable energy supply into the main electricity grid will increase the amount of energy generated from renewables in the grid to 6.5 per cent by 2010, up from 1 per cent in 2001.

Pacific Energy chief executive Adam Boyd said despite missing out on the supply contract, the company was still engaged with Synergy and intends to make submissions in future renewable energy tenders.

The 46MW facility is still on track for its intended start date of October 2010.

“This hasn’t changed our plans,” he said.

“I was surprised the [WA Biomass] project was able to commit to 2009. But it will be a good outcome for the industry if they achieve that.”

Another biomass facility proposed for WA is Verve Energy’s Integrated Wood Processing plant, to be located in the state’s wheatbelt.

Verve is currently seeking a partner to invest $50 million into the plant, which is expected to use about 20 million trees to produce between 5-7 MW of renewable energy.

Geothermal exploration in WA is also being encouraged by the state government, with legislation being introduced to parliament aimed at assisting the development of geothermal sources in the state.

The legislation will provide state ownership of geothermal resources. A royalty rate of 2.5 per cent will apply to geothermal production, with all money raised from royalties to go into the government’s Low Emissions Energy Development Fund.

Meanwhile, Horizon Power’s $14 million low-load wind-diesel power station, built by Verve Energy, was officially opened last we--ek in Coral Bay, signaling the normalisation of power supplies in the area.

With a total capacity of just more than 2.2MW, the power station consists of seven low-load diesel engines and three wind turbines, with the wind component capable of generating up to 45 per cent of Coral Bay’s annual electricity requirements.

Once the whole town is connected, the new power station will be running at about 50 per cent capacity, allowing room for the town’s proposed growth.

Constructed in France by the Vergnet Group, the wind turbines are able to be lowered to the ground during extreme weather conditions.