Overview
East Gippsland Water provides water and wastewater services across Victoria's East Gippsland region, and has committed to sourcing 100% renewable energy by 2025 and reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Wastewater treatment is energy-intensive, but the anaerobic digestion process used to treat waste also generates biogas that would otherwise be flared or vented. Capturing that biogas and converting it into electricity and heat on site lowers both energy costs and emissions at once. To progress these goals at its Bairnsdale Wastewater Treatment Plant, East Gippsland Water engaged Evo Energy Technologies to deliver a combined heat and power (CHP) solution built around the plant's existing biogas supply.
The system delivers:
The project involved the installation of a 2G Agenitor 80kW CHP unit, which uses biogas from the site's anaerobic digestion process to generate both electricity and heat. The system now powers the plant, provides all the thermal energy required by the digesters, and exports surplus energy to the grid.
The outcome
The CHP unit is expected to produce around 500MWh each year, enough to power 98 average Australian homes, while offsetting approximately 485 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually. The project also forms part of East Gippsland Water's broader emissions reduction plan, contributing to a 44% reduction by 2025 and supporting its long-term climate goals.
