A much-maligned project to burn waste in Lithgow for power is alive with owners of the Old Wallerawang Power Station, Greenspot in the early stages of working with Cleanaway and Macquarie Capital to investigate the feasibility of an Energy from Waste (EfW) facility at the Wang site.
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Greenspot will present to the Lithgow City Council at its next regular meeting on Wednesday, March 2. Council has previously rubbished the plan but it appears this new plan is being given serious consideration in light of the potential economic benefits. This will be the crux of the discussions on Wednesday, March 2.
"The vision for Wallerawang is to create a vibrant, world-class precinct that reinstates the site as the heartbeat of the local community", said Greenspot's founder Neil Schembri.
In November, the company lodged a development application and environmental impact statement with the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for a grid-scale battery - an estimated $400M project - to be built at the site.
- Dec 2017: (Former) Mayor concerned about waste to energy, wants discussions "as soon as feasible"
- Sep 2021: 'Exporting a problem': 'Toxic' incinerator potentially coming to Lithgow
- Sep 2021: Council rubbishes plan to burn trash in Lithgow
- Nov 2021: Lithgow residents to breathe easy after waste to energy project scrapped
- Nov 2021: Deputy Premier Paul Toole doesn't have a firm stance on the waste incinerator plan
Lithgow residents opposed to the project were happy to hear it was scrapped in late 2021 after Energy Australia decided to withdraw from a partnership with Re.Group in pursuing the project at Mt Piper.
Greenspot says it is exploring additional energy-based opportunities that could bring more than $700M of investment to the region. Specifically, the company says it is in the early stages of working with Cleanaway and Macquarie Capital to investigate the feasibility of an energy from waste facility at the Wallerawang site.
A first meeting with Lithgow City Council was held last week to discuss its potential. Lithgow Mercury is not privy to the specifics, but Greenspot says facts presented at the meeting showed a wide range of potential benefits including bringing approximately 1,000 direct jobs and 1,250 indirect jobs over three years of construction and 85 full-time local, high-skilled operational roles on completion.
"The unique opportunity this presents to bring forward the creation of long term jobs and a range of other benefits is very compelling. But this is only a first step. There's a great deal of detailed community consultation and broader stakeholder engagement to be undertaken and views need to be heard", said Greenspot CEO Brett Hawkins.
"Generation of energy on site leverages our proximity to transmission infrastructure and complements our current plans for battery storage.
"Competition for investment to transition fossil fuel based energy infastructure is heating up. Our interest right now is in doing the right and responsible thing to keep an option for investment in EfW alive at this appropriate site for the local community to consider thoughtfully.
"There are hundreds of facilities around the world successfully and safely generating energy from waste. We want to make sure the door is open for Wallerawang to be one of a limited number of sites with an opportunity in New South Wales."
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