The McGowan Government has welcomed news a second waste-to-energy plant will be built in Perth’s Western Trade Coast (WTC), making Western Australia home to the country’s first two energy-from-waste facilities.
The project in the WTC’s Rockingham Industry Zone is expected to create about 350 jobs and will turn Perth household and other waste into renewable power.
Consortium partners in the East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility (ERRRF) announced today they had achieved financial close and work is expected to start next month on the $511 million facility.
The plant is 4.5 kilometres south of the Avertas waste-to-energy plant which began construction in the Kwinana Industrial Area, also part of the WTC, in March.
Local and regional government authorities in Perth have contracted the development consortium of New Energy Corporation, Tribe Infrastructure Group and Hitachi Zosen Inova to manage their waste when the facility opens in late 2022.
The facility will treat about 300,000 tonnes a year of residual waste left after recycling efforts from municipal, commercial and industrial sources.
It will generate 29MW of baseload renewable energy, enough to power more than 36,000 homes, and reduce emissions by more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2-e a year – the equivalent of taking about 64,000 cars off the road.
The plant is expected to employ about 300 workers, including apprentices, during construction and up to 50 operations staff on an ongoing basis once complete.
The Western Trade Coast is a 3,900-hectare area between Rockingham and Munster designed as Australia’s industrial land gateway to global industry and trade with powerhouse economies including China and South East Asia.
It is a DevelopmentWA Industrial Lands Authority development, one of a range of projects taking a leading role in driving the State’s economic development and jobs growth by delivering strategically located land for heavy, general and light industrial use across WA.
As stated by Acting Premier Roger Cook:
“News that the East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility will go ahead means the Western Trade Coast will now be home to Australia’s only two waste to energy plants.
“This development is another example of the State Government unlocking land for industry in strategic locations across the State, creating new jobs and supporting businesses to grow and prosper.
“This is a project that ticks all the boxes – it creates jobs for local workers, reduces landfill and generates energy that can be used to power our homes and industry.”
