Mackay Sugar has opened a $120 million cogeneration plant that will use processing waste to sell renewable energy back into the national electricity grid.
The cogeneration plant, which was officially opened last week, can produce enough electricity to meet one-third of power needs of the regional city of Mackay, where the plant is based, as well as supply steam and electricity to its own mill and sugar refinery.
The upgrade has reduced Mackay Sugar's reliance on black coal, significantly reduced its energy costs and will also provide the company wtih a new revenue stream from the green energy it supplies to the grid.
"Mackay Sugar has today demonstrated that it is possible to make sensible investments in cleaner technologies which not only benefit the environment, but also improve the bottom line and productivity of businesses operating in the modern Australian economy," said the parliamentary secretary for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation, Yvette D'Ath, who opened the plant.
Construction of the 38 megawatt plant commenced at the company's Racecourse Mill in early 2010 and required the replacement of one of its traditional boilers and the installation of a new steam turbine generator.
To help fund the project, the company received a $9.1 million grant from the federal government's Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program.
The new plant and the broader efficiency improvements being undertaken at Mackay Sugar are expected to reduce the company's overall carbon pollution by 71 per cent.
