The Victorian Government has announced that 24 projects across the State will receive funding to generate renewable energy from organic wastes, boosting Victoria’s bioenergy capacity.
The Waste to Energy – Bioenergy Fund has awarded more than $8 million to help farming and food production, as well as other industry sectors, in their efforts to convert organic waste – including agricultural, livestock, food, and wood waste – into power, heat, gas, or liquid fuel.
The grant will assist a wide range of Victorian businesses in transitioning to renewable energy and reducing emissions.
“This is a significant boost to Victoria’s bioenergy sector and sends a strong signal to our industries of the critical role waste to energy has towards achieving our goals to reduce emissions,” Minister for Environment Ingrid Stitt said.
Minister Stitt stated that the projects would generate regional jobs and revenue for farmers while expanding Victoria’s bioenergy generation capacity by over 6.8 megawatts.
“This is a win for cutting the amount of waste we send to landfill, a win for generating more renewable energy in Victoria, and a win in helping drive down our emissions,” Minister Stitt added.
The projects are expected to increase Victoria’s renewable energy capacity by 6.82 megawatts (MW), enough to power 3410 houses with renewable energy.
Katunga Fresh, a tomato farmer in the Goulburn Valley, has received a $1 million grant. This means Katunga Fresh will be able to convert wasted tomato plants into a gas that will be utilised to heat their glasshouses, with any extra gas being returned to the grid.
Another initiative will see Australian Consolidated Milk turn cheese whey waste into biogas, which will be used to power its dairy production plant and reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.
Projects funded will generate up to 192 short-term and 29 long-term jobs and new revenue streams for Victoria’s primary producers.
“These projects will allow our producers to become more energy efficient while providing them with new opportunities to develop new revenue streams,” Minister for Agriculture Gayle Tierney said.
