ex-IBM staffer spruiks waste power plant

The Phoenix Plant

A Melbourne documentary producer and a former IBM staffer are pushing for government support for a prototype renewable power and waste plant that promises to turn rubbish into electricity.

The German-designed concept plant could generate 70 per cent of the electricity yield from an equivalent coal-powered plant by processing upwards of 35,000 tonnes of waste a year.

No Waste co-director, Aaran Creece, said the plant would cost less than a coal-powered plant and could be constructed in half the time.

“It could take 15 years to build a nuclear plant and up to five years to build a coal-powered station,” Creece said. “Ours could be built in two years.”

The Phoenix Park turns un-recyclable waste into base-load power by compressing the material into pellets which are then burnt to produce steam which then runs a turbine. The waste pellets are fed into an underground worm farm and turned into high-nutrient soil.

Excess steam can also be used in tri-generation power, a process used by NAB, to produce heating and cooling.

A Supervisory Control Acquisition and Data System would sort in-bound waste for categorisation and to remove recyclable materials.

Creece said the water self-sufficient and closed loop model is more efficient than solar and wind power plants, and would cost about $100M to build.