Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, prides itself on being a leader in implementing citywide sustainable initiatives. And Jeffries Group, the region’s largest green waste processing facility, supports the city’s effort by converting waste from garden clippings, food scraps, timber, and liquid organics into enriched compost and soil. With decades of market experience, the team saw an enormous untapped potential to build a power station that leveraged biochar, the charcoal byproduct of pyrolysis, to generate renewable energy that would power their operations — and supply Adelaide with surplus energy with zero emissions.

Danfoss Drives supported its long-standing partner and thermal energy management solution provider gTET with integrated VACON® drives — critical components in their Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) generators. The Jeffries Group project began when gTET initiated the design and installation of an ORC generator. The generator’s technology creates a closed-loop thermodynamic cycle that uses exhaust heat from pyrolysis — the production of biochar from green waste — to generate electrical power.

The Jeffries Group power station was commissioned in 2021. The new installation produces a commercial biochar product that is sold for agricultural soil — and it also generates 300kWe of power, significantly reducing the plant’s consumption from the main power grid. Furthermore, the installation produces at least 2GWh each year of power generation replacement from Adelaide’s main power grid — emission-free. As an integral component to gTET’s high-performance ORC generator, the Danfoss VACON® NXP Grid Converter units delivered with high-speed regenerative capability, supporting the intense processes in the energy from-waste power station. Fuelled by completely renewable resources, Australia’s first biochar power station is a model for how green waste can be transformed into energy — given a visionary mindset backed by high-performance technology.