Energy from waste infrastructure plan - Marulan (Withdrawn)
Jerrara Power proposed to build and operate a facility in Marulan, NSW to process up to 330,000 tonnes of residual household, commercial and industrial waste each year to generate sustainable baseload electricity.
Residual waste, not suitable for recycling, was to be sourced from the Sydney basin and transported to the facility where the waste would be thermally processed at high temperature using world-leading grate combustion technology.
The heat from combustion would boil water to create steam. The steam drives a turbine connected to a generator to produce reliable baseload electricity. This would be fed into the grid to power homes and businesses.
Once full operational, the facility was to feed an average of 28 megawatts of power to the grid. This is enough electricity to supply 43,000* homes.
*Source: IPART 2020
In September 2021, the NSW Government released an Energy from Waste Infrastructure Plan to support the NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 which outlined priority areas where energy from waste infrastructure is to be located specifying 4 precincts in West Lithgow, Parkes, Richmond Valley and Southern Goulburn Mulwaree.
As a consequence of this new policy direction, Jerrara Power withdrew its development application for the energy from waste facility at Marulan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Jerrara Power proposed to build and operate an energy from waste facility in Marulan, NSW to process up to 330,000 tonnes of residual household, commercial and industrial waste each year to generate electricity.
Residual waste, not suitable for recycling, would be sourced from Sydney and transported to the facility where the waste would be thermally processed at high temperature using a grate combustion technology.
The heat from combustion would boil water to create steam. The steam will drive a turbine connected to a generator to produce electricity. This power would be fed into the grid to power homes and businesses.
Once fully operational, the facility would feed an average of 28 megawatts of power to the grid. This is enough electricity to supply approximately 43,000 homes (based on an average residential home in NSW using 5,100kWh per year[1]).
The project was also to include:
- a visitor and education centre
- car park for visitors and employees
- administration building
- weighbridges
- parking and hardstand areas
- internal roads
- stormwater and surface water management infrastructure
- fencing and landscaping
- temporary construction workforce accommodation facility
- overhead power lines to a 66KV substation.
[1] Monitoring the Electricity Retail Market 2019–2020, Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal.
The project did not go ahead due to a change in policy direction from the NSW Government.
About $600 million. It is being privately funded by investors.
The Jerrara Power project is considered a State Significant Development under NSW planning legislation. This is because it proposes to thermally process more than 1,000 tonnes of waste per year.
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment was responsible for assessing the proposal and the consent authority was to be either the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces or the Independent Planning Commission.
The NSW Government’s Energy from Waste Policy limits the proportion and type of waste that can be used to produce energy in order to promote recycling.
Our facility was to process residual household (municipal solid waste or MSW), commercial and industrial (C&I) waste from which recyclable materials have already been separated.
MSW is made up of the waste that is collected in your red-lidded kerbside bin. C&I waste is produced by a broad range of businesses and industries such as manufacturing, retail, accommodation and food service, office/administration, healthcare and education facilities.
Hazardous wastes, liquid wastes, construction and demolition waste, asbestos and/or chemical waste types would not be accepted at the proposal.
Where would the waste come from?
We would source up to 330,000 tonnes of residual waste each year from the Sydney Basin.
There are about 22 million tonnes of waste produced in NSW per year of which about 7.5 million tonnes goes to landfill.
The facility will also be available for councils in southern NSW providing a unique opportunity to participate in energy from waste.
