S17m Nowra cow manure power plant plans move ahead

A massive waste to energy facility set to convert manure from South Coast dairy farms into a viable energy source is forging ahead after a regional council voted on a long-awaited lease agreement.

Artist impression of the Nowra Bioenergy Project. Picture: Supplied

A massive waste to energy facility set to convert manure from South Coast dairy farms into a viable energy source is in motion, after a regional council voted on a long-awaited lease agreement.

The $17m Nowra Bioenergy Project was first given the tick of approval by NSW minister for planning, Paul Scully, in March 2024, with the facility aiming to convert food waste into renewable electricity.

The plant is set to be erected opposite to Shoalhaven Council’s Terara Sewage Treatment Plant – just outside Nowra’s CBD – and will see manure from local farms turned into electricity by converting it into biogas.

However, construction has not yet started, with Shoalhaven Council only now voting on a lease agreement with the development’s owner, Nowra Bioenergy Pty Ltd.

The approved plans have been welcomed by sustainable energy professionals, such as Innovating Energy’s managing director, David Ryan, who said the project would “significantly improve the dairy farming environment by cleaning up waterways and contributing to reducing CO2 emissions for the dairy farms who are constantly striving for solutions to reduce farm pollution”.

The Nowra Bioenergy Plant will be built on the Shoalhaven Water Treatment site. Picture: Supplied

“Nowra will be the first of a number of renewable waste to energy projects to be developed by the Joint Venture throughout Australia and New Zealand which will be fuelled by cow manure and other organic wastes,” he said.

Shoalhaven Council meeting papers reveal several dairy farmers in the region have already signed on to the project.

“The Nowra Bioenergy Project captures these gases and uses them to create electricity and the nutrients from the incoming waste are preserved for reuse as an alternative to chemical fertiliser,” council papers explain.

On Tuesday, Shoalhaven Council voted in favour of looking into a 25 year lease with Nowra Bioenergy Pty Ltd to run the facility.

Construction on the approved plans will begin at a later date.

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Originally published as S17m Nowra cow manure power plant plans move ahead