Waste-to-energy plan firms for Port Hedland

Perth-based New Energy Corporation has received another boost to its proposal for Australia’s first waste-to-energy plant, with a commitment of waste from the Town of Port Hedland.

New Energy is planning to build a $200 million facility in the Boondarie Industrial Estate that will process between 70,000 and 130,000 tonnes of waste per year.

Key to its proposal has been securing municipal solid waste from local shires.

The Town of Port Hedland today announced an agreement with New Energy Corporation to direct much of its future waste to the waste-to-energy plant instead of landfill.

The local government has also agreed to take energy from the facility, which is expected to be able to generate up to 18.5MW of electricity.

New Energy general manager Jason Pugh said The Town of Port Hedland’s commitment meant the company was getting close to reaching ‘critical mass’ of waste supply to enable the project to go ahead.

It was still in negotiations with other local shires to secure further waste supply.

Mr Pugh also said financing negotiations were going well with both debt financers and investors looking for equity.

The company announced it had secured $50 million from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation in June, which Mr Pugh said had helped encouraged other debt finance.

He said a final investment decision was expected before the end of 2014, which would enable the first stream of waste to be supplied to the Port Hedland facility in 2017.

New Energy Corporation is also progressing a project of the same size and specifications in Rockingham, which Mr Pugh said was being developed simultaneously with the Port Hedland facility.