The Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) has announced it has named a consortium led by Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) preferred tenderer for its Resource Recovery Facility tender that will result in the diversion from landfill of 96% of the EMRC’s residual household waste.

The call for tenders was released in August 2016. The five month tender process closed on 18 January 2017, with a diverse range of options presented.

The East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility will convert approximately 300,000 tonnes of waste per year into baseload renewable energy, producing 28MW of electricity at full capacity -- enough to power 36,000 homes.

The project represents a AUD400 million (US$318 million) investment in the Perth area and will create 300 jobs during construction and 50 new full-time jobs throughout its 30 year operating life.

The consortium that has developed and will deliver the project is led by HZI. HZI’s other partners in the project are New Energy Corporation, a Perth-based waste-to-energy business which has been developing the East Rockingham site since 2013, and Tribe Infrastructure Group, an international advisory and investment firm specializing in the development and financing of complex infrastructure transactions.

HZI will act as the technology provider, engineering and construction contractor and will execute a long-term operations and maintenance contract in joint venture with New Energy for the project.

The project is scheduled to start construction in Q3 2018.

The project supports the Western Australia state government’s aggressive targets for landfill diversion, set in the state’s waste strategy, which was launched in 2012.

New Energy Chairman Enzo Gullotti said:

“The tender award was the culmination of years of work by the regional council to find the best resource recovery solution to manage existing and future waste.

The project supports the Western Australia state government’s aggressive targets for landfill diversion, set in the state’s waste strategy, which was launched in 2012.

The EMRC’s decision demonstrates a clear commitment to divert waste away from landfills. The state has set a landfill diversion target of 65% by 2020. The only way this will be achieved is by best-practice waste-to-energy solutions.”