The Colac Biogas Plant is the vision of two men who not only share a passion for waste conversion, but also a first name; Tony Sennitt, Managing Director of Diamond Energy and Tony Evans of Camperdown Compost Company have been working together to bring the project to life for the past two years.

While the Colac Biogas Plant is far from complete, Mr Sennitt and Mr Evans, who have formed the Colac Power Company (CPC), recently celebrated the receipt of a $1.5 million grant from the Regional Infrastructure Development Fund, administered by Regional Development Victoria, to get things underway.

The plant will process up to 25,000 tonnes of organic waste each year, received from the region’s food processors, to create fully-accredited renewable energy. Waste products will include milk solids and food scraps that otherwise have limited options for disposal.

Approximately 925 tonnes of high-nutrient organic fertiliser will also be produced at the Colac Biogas Plant which will be sold separately and will be available for agricultural use in the region.

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By diverting 25,000 tonnes of organic waste from landfill and converting that waste to energy in a carbon neutral process, this project will reduce carbon emissions generated by at least 12,000 tonnes per year.

The plant will consist of two major components:

  • 1. Anaerobic digestion of the organic waste streams to generate a methane-rich biogas which is then conditioned to remove contaminants.
  • 2. A cogeneration unit that will use the biogas as fuel to generate fully accredited renewable electricity and thermal heat for host site use.

Based on an input of 80 tonnes of liquefied waste per day, CPC will produce 8 gigawatt hours of electricity per annum, which is enough energy to run 2,000 homes – with the possibility to expand this capacity in the future.

The electricity generated from the project is to be primarily sold to local industry users with extra supply being distributed to the state power grid through the Powercor network.

Thermal heat that is to be produced by the cogeneration unit is to be made available for use on the host site, to reduce its existing fuel needs. The thermal heat will be delivered to the site as hot water at about 80° Celsius.

“At Camperdown Compost Company we are continually seeking new and better ways to do things,” said Mr Evans “This is a great solution for waste handling in our region and we will be utilising proven technology that is current world best practice.”

Mr Sennitt of Diamond Energy said of the project “This exciting initiative demonstrates the bringing together of two necessary and very different skill sets. Diamond Energy – electricity generation to market, and Camperdown Compost Company – regional specialists in industrial waste processing. It is a glimpse towards the future energy solution in Australia.”

The Colac region was chosen given its entral location relative to a number of the waste stream suppliers within the region.

”Following successful commissioning, there are opportunities for replication across the state and across Australia,” said Mark Bertoncello, Chief Investment Officer at Diamond Energy.

“The project demonstrates how a range of local companies and government bodies can work together collaboratively to address a number of common challenges and also demonstrates how bringing together the right parties, technology and commercially drivers can deliver a positive environmental and economic outcome,” Mr Bertoncello added.

It is expected that the plant will take 18 months to complete once CPC secures a planning permit.