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42 min ago 3 min read
Australian bioenergy developer Delorean Corporation has secured an operating licence for its Adelaide organic waste plant, bringing it closer to producing biomethane for South Australia’s gas network and liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) for industrial use.
The SA1 Salisbury Bioenergy Project received the licence from the South Australian Environment Protection Authority on 20 October, allowing it to receive and process organic waste. Construction is approximately 90% complete.
Located at Edinburgh Parks in metropolitan Adelaide, the facility is designed to process 70,000 tonnes of organic waste annually from commercial, industrial and municipal sources. Using anaerobic digestion, it is expected to produce 210 terajoules of renewable gas each year.
The plant is also expected to produce 6,000 tonnes of biogenic, food-grade liquid CO2 annually. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has identified the output as a potential source of additional CO2 supply for the region, alongside the diversion of organic waste from landfill.
The biomethane will be injected into the existing gas network, allowing it to reach customers beyond the immediate vicinity of the plant. Australian Gas Networks is a project partner.
Delorean has secured an offtake agreement with Origin Energy for biomethane and a 10-year agreement with Supagas for liquid CO2.
The project is supported by ARENA grant funding of AUD7.7m ($5.4m), including an additional AUD1.66m ($1.16m) announced in June.
In a June announcement confirming the project’s accreditation under GreenPower’s Renewable Gas Certification scheme, Delorean managing director Joe Oliver said the accreditation “provides further support for advancing this first-of-its-kind facility”.
GreenPower accreditation makes the project eligible to generate Renewable Gas Guarantee of Origin certificates, which allow commercial and industrial gas users to match their gas consumption with certified renewable gas injected into the network.
Delorean plans to begin by accepting packaged organic waste to support controlled commissioning, before progressively introducing suitable liquid and solid waste streams.
Waste acceptance, biological commissioning and first biomethane injection remain the next milestones for the project.
According to data from the European Biogas Association, the number of biomethane plants capturing biogenic CO2 in Europe grew eightfold over a five-year span, rising from 15 plants in 2020 to 125 plants capturing 1.17 million tonnes of biogenic CO2 annually.
Confirmed developments and plants currently under construction are expected to push total captured volume past two million tonnes across at least 179 plants.
Around 75% of the captured biogenic CO2 is used in commercial markets, such as food and beverage carbonation, pharmaceuticals, industrial cooling, and greenhouse enrichment.
