The first truckload of waste from the City of Gosnells was delivered to the new Kwinana Energy Recovery facility this week, marking the start of a significant shift that will redirect all of the City’s non-recyclable waste away from landfill and convert it into electricity.
Located in East Rockingham, the $696 million facility is Australia’s first standalone large-scale waste-to-energy plant.
The city is one of 10 local government areas contracted to provide non-recyclable waste to the Kwinana Energy Recovery facility.
When fully operational, the plant is expected to generate 38 megawatts of electricity to power 55,000 homes and divert up to 460,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year, representing about a quarter of the waste from the greater Perth area.
Mayor Terresa Lynes said the plant brings the city one step closer to completely eliminating its need for landfill waste disposal.
“The City of Gosnells is one of the first local governments in Australia to divert non-recyclable waste away from landfill and turn it into energy,” she said.
“This is particularly exciting because it effectively spells the end for landfill in the City of Gosnells.”
Upon arrival, waste is inspected for environmental compliance and combustion suitability, then mixed and fed into a boiler where it is burned; the resulting heat is converted into steam to power a turbine and generate electricity.
Bottom ash from the energy recovery process is processed to remove metals for recycling, and the remainder can be used in road and construction projects.
Currently, the plant is still in its commissioning phase, but earlier this month, the first fire was lit, fuelled by waste from Local Authority and Commercial & Industrial sources, which was fed onto the combustion grate for testing.
“The energy released from this process will allow the boiler to maintain normal operations temperature without any support fuel,” a statement from Kwinana Energy Recovery said.
“The next stage of commissioning will involve synchronising the turbine, which will enable the plant to begin generating power for the Western Power grid.”
Acquired early this year by Acciona, the facility is expected to be fully operational in late 2024.
