June 2010 - An Overview of Bioenergy in Australia

This newly released report by Enecon principal Colin Stucley, provides a factual overview of Australia’s bioenergy industry to assist in the development of the National Bioenergy RD&E Strategy. This strategy aims to improve coordination of RD&E across Australia and involves all stakeholders with an interest in bioenergy RD&E including industry, research organisations and funding bodies. The paper is available here as a 903KB download.

January 2010 - Bioenergy assignments

Enecon has a variety of bioenergy assignments underway for clients in industry and government at present. Work includes:

  • Overviews of bioenergy for two federal government departments.
  • A biofuels study for a major industry client.
  • Feasibility work to examine technology selection and costing for a plant to generate several megawatts of renewable electricity from wood waste. This is one of several such studies undertaken by Enecon over the past twelve months for clients across Australia and also in the Pacific.

October 2009 - Water quality skid

Enecon has designed and built a water quality monitoring skid for one of its clients. The skid is used for water monitoring activities across a site and is designed to be capable of relocation and remote operation as required. Enecon’s role included on-site commissioning and operator training as well as full documentation for the client.

April 2009 - Project management skills utilised

Enecon has taken on an interesting assignment - to assist a client with the close-out of a large project that had gone over budget and time. Enecon provided a senior manager to review the work and claims by the various parties, including the previous project manager, designers and construction contractor.

December 2008 - Bioenergy work

Jim Bland, Enecon's Technical Director was invited to deliver a paper on charcoal production from biomass feedstock at the annual Bioenergy Conference in Melbourne.

Jim has spent significant time interstate over recent months, conducting operating trials for a client considering new charcoal technology.

November 2008 - International support for client

Senior Mechanical Engineer Steve Kennett travelled to Europe to support the activities of one of our Australian clients. Steve's work involved specialised design and fabrication management, followed by on-site commissioning in a chemical processing environment.

August 2008 - Minerals processing assignments

Enecon was engaged on a fast track materials handling project for BHP Billiton at GEMCO on Groote Eylandt in mid 2008. Subsequently our role within their minerals processing operation has expanded and we now have a growing team on the island providing engineering and construction management, project engineering and design drafting services on a FIFO basis. The site personnel are supported by design engineers and drafting personnel in Enecon's Melbourne office. We are pleased to be providing a flexible and pro-active service to GEMCO.

March 2008

Enecon Director Colin Stucley was a presenter at the first national conference for the Oil Mallee industry, held in Perth in March 2008.

Enecon is also working forestry consultants URS to prepare an Industry Development Plan for the Oil Mallee industry. This plan should be available publicly through the OMC in the third quarter of 2008.

September 2007 - Enecon recognised for Engineering Excellence

Winning team
The winning team with their awards

Friday, 21st September: Enecon and Verve Energy were winners at the 2007 Engineers Australia Engineering Excellence Awards in Perth today. Enecon and Verve took out the awards for Best Environmental Project and also Best Project for Rural Communities. This is wonderful recognition of the innovation and hard work that has gone into the Integrated Wood Processing plant at the country town of Narrogin, WA over the past few years.

August 2007 - Enecon MD presents to WA Bioenergy forum

Tuesday, 8th August: Colin Stucley of Enecon was a key speaker at a public forum to discuss bioenergy in the Avon catchment of Western Australia. The forum in York, WA included the WA Minister for Energy, the Hon. Francis Logan, as well as several other speakers experienced in bioenergy and tree cropping. Mr Stucley's presentation is available here (1.4MB PDF).

Enecon has recently completed a study of near term bioenergy options that could promote larger scale tree planting in the Avon. The report Bioenergy in the Avon, can be downloaded as a 1MB PDF.

Enecon gratefully acknowledges the efforts of Avongro Wheatbelt Tree Cropping and funding by the WA Sustainable Energy Development Office for this work.

May 2007 - Mallee moves to next phase

The integrated tree processing (ITP) project has moved into a new phase with Verve Energy (owners of Western Carbon Pty Ltd) calling for expressions of interest from private industry to assist with development of the next processing plant. Verve has prepared a detailed information memorandum that discusses work to date and plans for the future. This memorandum will be made available to organisations interested in and capable of collaboration on this exciting next phase for ITP. Please see here for more details.

December 2006 - Enecon moving to new address

Enecon have relocated to new, larger offices in Surrey Hills, Victoria. For details, click here (PDF 34k).

July 2006 - New name for Enecon Pyrolysis

Enecon Pyrolysis Pty Ltd has changed its name to Renewable Oil Corporation Pty Ltd. A new web site has been established at www.renoil.com.au.

July 2006 - Enecon signs licensing agreement with DynaMotive

Enecon Pyrolysis Pty Ltd has signed a Master Licence Agreement with DynaMotive Energy Systems Corporation, Vancouver, Canada, which will enable it to exploit opportunities for production of renewable liquid fuels using biomass feedstocks. For further information about DynaMotive and their technology, click here.

June 2006 - Milestones at ITP plant

Western Australia's Minister for Energy, Francis Logan, announced the achievement of several milestones for Verve Energy's Integrated Tree Processing plant at Narrogin, WA. The plant was designed to Verve Energy's requirements by Enecon Pty Ltd, using technology licensed by Enecon from CSIRO. For details of the minister's announcement, click here. For further information on the project, click here.

August 2005 - Radio National Interview

Enecon's Managing Director, Colin Stucley was interviewed on ABC Radio National's Saturday Breakfast programme on 6th August 2005. The interview covered the background to, and the status of, the Narrogin Bioenergy Project. For a transcript of the interview, click here. For further information on the project, click here.

July 2005 - Commissioning of ITP plant

Commissioning of the Western Power Corporation Integrated Tree Processing Plant at Narrogin has begun and is expected to continue through various phases and optimisation for the remainder of 2005.

To view a photo of the plant in operation click here.

February 2004 - Bioenergy report published

Enecon was recently engaged by the Rural Industries R&D Corporation (RIRDC) and the Australian Greenhouse Office to prepare a wide-ranging report on bioenergy for Australia. Enecon led the report development and preparation, ably assisted by several other experts in forestry and bioenergy from Australia and New Zealand.

The report covers feed supply, technologies, costing and project development. It has a particular focus on new, short cycle tree crops, because of the other environmental and social benefits associated with planting short cycle tree crops in many parts of Australia.

The full report is available on the the RIRDC website - for a link please visit the downloads page of Enecon's website.

January 2004 - Construction of ITP plant

As described elsewhere on this site, Enecon is working with Western Power Corporation to develop a full scale demonstration plant to showcase the concept of integrated tree processing. This demonstration plant will process whole mallee eucalypts grown to manage water and salinity on wheat-belt farms in south west Western Australia. The integrated processing concept allows for the production of renewable electricity, activated carbon and eucalyptus oil.

Enecon has undertaken detailed design for the plant at its Melbourne office. The plant itself is being built by Western Power near Narrogin, a country town two hours drive south east of Perth. Construction work is well advanced, with equipment installation currently underway. Commissioning is due to start mid year when the final critical path items are on site and installed.

To view the plant under construction click here.

May 2003 - Review of renewable energy legislation

The federal government has called for public submisions as part of a two year review of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act and its accompanying Regulations. Further details of the review process can be found at the MRET review website. Enecon has made a submission to the review panel, with particular emphasis on the need to modify the regulations so that wood from sustainably managed plantations, short rotation energy crops and new environmental tree plantings are clearly defined as eligible sources of fuel for Renewable Energy Certificates.

Enecon's submission may be downloaded as a pdf file Enecon submission to MRET Review.

Later note: the report by the review panel is scheduled for publication by 16 January 2004.

December 2002 - Wood to ethanol

Over recent years Enecon has been asked to undertake a number of assignments to look at particular aspects of ethanol and methanol as renewable transport fuels. One such assignment has been for the Rural Industries R&D Corporation. Enecon led an investigation of the potential for wood as feed for alcohol fuels in Australia, and considered costs and benefits from economic, social and environmental perspectives. These alcohol fuels appear to offer significant potential for the development of significant new tree plantings across areas of Australia that are prone to environmental problems such as salinity.

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