Local electricity
Today, about 80 per cent of the city’s electricity still comes from coal-fired power stations. Most are located in the Hunter Valley. Power stations lose about two-thirds of the energy coal produces (through steam) on site. More losses occur when the electricity is transmitted all the way from the Hunter to Sydney – and most of your bill goes towards network costs.
You don’t need to be in business to realise that’s a waste! Now what if we said we could power your business from a local generator? Well, we can!
The City is planning to install local generators in four energy-dense zones in Central Sydney. While the red tape involved is complicated, generating local electricity is not.
‘Trigeneration’ systems can be set up in the basement of a building or on vacant land; they are about the size of a shipping container. They produce all the electricity needed for a designated area and if there is any leftover, it goes back into the grid.
In the beginning, our systems will use low-carbon fuels such as natural gas. Eventually (and here it gets slightly more complicated), they will run on renewable energy produced from treating household waste.
Unlike the big power stations, trigeneration systems actually use the waste heat they accumulate – to heat buildings! It can even be converted to cool air in summer. That’s why to the boffins, trigeneration is known as a combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) system.
Trigeneration has been tried and tested in England, and we’ve brought in British energy expert Allan Jones MBE to oversee our entire response to climate change.
The City has worked with Kinesis, Origin Energy and Cogent to develop the Trigeneration Master Plan, which builds on the interim version of the plan, and was placed on public exhibition in December 2011. The plan has established trigeneration could be implemented in four low-carbon zones – city north, city south, Pyrmont/Broadway and Green Square, as well as other nominated hot spots.
The final Trigeneration Master Plan will be on exhibition until Wednesday 22 August.
We’re also putting in a trigeneration network to power the Sydney Town Hall and adjacent City of Sydney offices at Town Hall House.
Trigeneration is part of a larger green infrastructure program which will revolutionise energy use in the City of Sydney. Find out more in the presentation below:
• Trigeneration presentation part 1 | 2.1Mb PDF
• Trigeneration presentation part 2 | 9.7Mb PDF
• Trigeneration presentation part 3 | 1.7Mb PDF
• Trigeneration presentation part 4 | 1.1Mb PDF
We don’t plan to wait until 2030 to sign your business up to our local electricity network – its ‘full steam ahead’ on this one!
Towards 2030, our trigeneration systems will:
- Help end our reliance on coal-fired power
- Cut greenhouse emissions
- Reduce electricity costs for businesses.
Read an article on the Global Mail website, The Hidden Cost Of Infinite Energy (Part 2) by Ellen Fanning on rising electricity prices, the solutions and action being taken by the City of Sydney.
