Media Release

28 Feb 2007

Sydney Water Investing $45 Million in Renewable Energy

Sydney Water has announced a $45 million program to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

This new project is equivalent to taking 12,000 cars off the road.

As part of the project Sydney Water will construct new biogas cogeneration facilities at five Sewage Treatment Plants. Four hydro-generation facilities will also be installed.

The biogas cogeneration facilities will be established at:

• Bondi Sewage Treatment Plant
  
• Glenfield Sewage Treatment Plant
  
• Liverpool Sewage Treatment Plant
  
• Warriewood Sewage Treatment Plant
  
• Wollongong Sewage Treatment Plant

The hydroelectric facilities along high-flow pipelines will be installed at:

• North Head Sewage Treatment Plant
  
• Sugarloaf Water Pumping Station
  
• Woronora Water Filtration Plant
  
• Prospect Reservoir Pipeline. (Final evaluation in closing stages)

Together these nine projects will produce more than 50 gigawatt hours of electricity each year, enough power to supply more than 20 per cent of Sydney Water’s energy needs by early 2008.

Three of the nine projects will receive $3.67 million in support from the $200 million Energy Savings Fund.

Vital processes like water pumping, sewage treatment and disposal require significant amounts of electricity.

Sydney Water is tapping into new technologies to establish small scale renewable energy generators to help meet the power needs for these processes.

Hydro-electricity generators use the flow of water and wastewater to generate electricity, via mini turbine engines along high-flow pipes.

One hydroelectric generator will capture energy from wastewater flowing down a dropshaft into the deepwater ocean outfall at North Head Sewage Treatment Plant.

Cogeneration harnesses biogas, a by-product of the wastewater treatment process. The biogas is converted into electricity through state-of-the-art combustion technology using engines, much the same way as occurs in a car.

Projects like this are a further step towards sustainability in the delivery of this essential service, and an important step towards reducing the impacts of climate change.

Over a long period, Sydney Water has undertaken a number of projects to improve its energy efficiency and reduce its carbon emissions.

Projects already undertaken include optimising pumping schedules, and using variable speed drives to reduce power demand.

This use of cogeneration has been pioneered and proven at the Malabar and Cronulla sewage treatment plants. Sydney Water is also close to completing a new biogas cogenerator at North Head.

Sydney Water is also preparing to build a new 5-star rated energy and water efficient head office building at Parramatta. Water use is expected to be 75 to 80 per cent less than in a standard commercial office building.

 

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