MACKAY Sugar’s $120 million 38 megawatt Racecourse Cogeneration Plant has been officially opened.
Construction of the cogeneration plant first commenced at Racecourse Mill in early 2010, with the commissioning phase and export of renewable energy to the national electricity grid commencing respectively in September and November 2012.
At full capacity, the Racecourse Cogeneration Plant produces enough renewable energy to meet about 30 percent of Mackay’s annual electricity consumption, while also providing energy to the Racecourse Mill and adjacent Racecourse Refinery.
Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation the Yvette D’Ath officially opened the plant.
“This is a great demonstration of the way the government is working with Mackay Sugar to make sensible investments in cleaner technologies, not only benefitting the environment, but also improving productivity - securing profitability and jobs,” Mrs D’Ath said.
Mackay Sugar chief executive officer Quinton Hildebrand said the official opening of the plant was a significant milestone for Mackay Sugar.
“The opening of our Racecourse Cogeneration Plant signifies a great triumph for our company, in particular for the many people involved with the planning, development and construction of the plant," Mr Hildebrand said.
“The Racecourse Cogeneration Plant is an example of Mackay Sugar’s commitment to growing its business for the benefit of growers and shareholders, employees and the community.
“The plant also provides significant environmental benefits, with the energy produced from the plant reducing Queensland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 200,000 tonnes equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2e) each year,” Mr Hildebrand said.
Energy from the plant is distributed to a 66 kilovolt switchyard adjacent to the Racecourse site and connects to Ergon Energy’s Glenella feeder (north of the Pioneer River) via a 5km high voltage transmission line.
About the project:
Construction of the Racecourse Cogeneration Plant was completed in 397,000 site-construction man-hours.
The construction involved the replacement of one of Racecourse Mill’s traditional boilers and the installation of a new steam turbine generator. The traditional boiler was designed to incinerate bagasse (fibre left after crushing sugarcane). However the, new high pressure boiler maximises the steam generation from the bagasse. The high efficiency plant is fuelled by Racecourse Mill’s bagasse during the crushing season and stored bagasse from other Mackay Sugar mills during the non-crush period.
