The Maryvale Energy from Waste (EfW) project is going from strength to strength following the signing of the grant agreement for $48.2 million under the Manufacturing Collaboration Stream of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI).
The project, led by consortium partners Opal, Veolia and Masdar Tribe Australia, received the grant funding from the Australian government as part of the Modern Manufacturing Strategy.
The Maryvale EfW facility will be the first of its kind in Australia to recover heat and power from residual non-recyclable municipal and commercial waste to provide partly renewable power for large-scale manufacturing.
Speaking on behalf of the consortium, Edward Nicholas, general manager of Masdar Tribe Australia, said that the grant demonstrates the Australian government’s commitment to supporting innovative, alternative energy sources for manufacturing.
“The funding support from the Commonwealth not only demonstrates the importance of this technology in providing a waste management solution to a whole-of-community problem, but it also accelerates our project towards completing the development phase and commencing construction,” he explained.
The Maryvale EfW facility will provide councils and businesses with a competitive waste management solution that will divert residual waste from landfill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Contracts will be offered on a waste arising basis, enabling councils to have the freedom to pursue future waste reduction initiatives without penalty.
“The social, environmental and economic case to send non-recyclable waste to the Maryvale EfW facility is compelling,” said Nicholas.
“With finite capacity and heightened interest, forward-thinking councils are moving quickly to secure this opportunity while it’s still available.”
The Maryvale EfW project will attract investment capital of over $600 million to the Latrobe Valley, and the state-of-the-art infrastructure supports the sustainable growth of an innovative energy industry in the Gippsland region. It will create more than 500 jobs once operational, including direct and flow-on.
