Jerrara Power Pty Ltd is planning to build and operate a waste to energy facility at Bungonia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
If the proposal goes ahead, up to 30,000 tonnes of residual household, along with commercial and industrial waste, will be processed annually at the proposed facility.
According to the proposal, once the facility is fully operational, it will be able to feed an average of 28 megawatts of power to the grid, which is enough electricity to supply to 43,000 homes.
Around 300 jobs will be created during peak construction and 60 full-time jobs during the facility's 25-year lifespan.
Jenni Neumann, president of the Bungonia Progress Association said that many members of the community have expressed significant concerns regarding the proposal of the waste management facility.
"The Progress Association is actively encouraging all members of the community to register to attend the workshops to get more information and gain a better understanding of the proposal and has approached Jerrara Power to increase the number of workshops being offered," she said.
"There are also concerns regarding the flow of traffic on Jerrara Road that have also been raised by other organisations in the community.
"Obviously, with such a proposal, we anticipate that the flow of traffic, particularly truck movements on the road, will dramatically increase and will be an additional cause of concern."
Meanwhile, the managing director of the company, Chris Berkefeld, confirmed that they have bought the land to build the facility in the next few years.
"We are holding workshops with the community and will try to address their concerns," he said.
The company will now hold an additional workshop for the community to provide input into the planning of the proposed energy from a waste facility near Bungonia. It will be held on May 15 from 10am until noon.
"The purpose of the workshops is to help us understand what issues or questions community stakeholders have about the proposal so they can be addressed part of the environmental assessment process," Mr Berkefeld said.
Residual waste, not suitable for recycling, would be sourced locally and from Sydney and transported to the facility on Jerrara Road, Bungonia where the waste would be thermally processed at high temperature using Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) 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.
The proposal also includes a visitor and education centre, car park, administration building, weighbridges, internal roads, stormwater infrastructure, fencing and landscaping, a temporary construction workforce accommodation facility and overhead power lines to a 33kV substation.
Did you know the Goulburn Post is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up below.