Westbury’s Valley Central Industrial Precinct is going from strength to strength, with a $564.8 million injection into the Tasmanian economy on the table if all projects proceed.
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Economic modelling compiled by the Meander Valley Council shows that the potential investments would add $143.2 million annually to Northern Tasmania.
While the council has already received national recognition for its innovation in making the precinct a success, mayor Craig Perkins says the next opportunity is just around the corner.
He said due to the fact that industrial processes demand large volumes of heart and electrical energy the council had turned its attention to making the precinct self-sustaining with bioenergy.
“These businesses need energy, in terms of electricity and in terms of steam and heat, and our focus is how do we continue to support the provision of efficient energy on the site,” Cr Perkins said.
Using the biomass of natural biological materials is a renewable energy source, is base load energy, has a stable price and provides an alternative to landfill.
Cr Perkins said it was a way to generate waste value from by-products.
“The Tasmanian government has provided the council with $100,000 to do a feasibility study on bioenergy and we are just about to go to market on that,” he said,
“We hope to prepare a proposal that the private sector can invest in and show that there is capacity for someone to fill the void and provide the energy on site.”
The council believes a bioenergy plant will give Valley Central a unique selling point to investors.
“What is says is that as a council we are not only interested in having development there but we understand that we have a role to play to make it work,” Cr Perkins said.
“It might become a 100 per cent local renewable site and that might fit exactly with a developer’s ethos and could be the reason they choose the site for investment.”
Preliminary assessments indicate the cost of the bioenergy project could be between $30 million and $50 million to meet the needs of the proposed development.
Cr Perkins said if the plan goes ahead, Westbury would be home to the largest bioenergy plant in Australia.