Radial Renewable Energy Park at Yarram Sawmill

GridEdge is currently involved in a project to create a Renewable Energy Park at the Radial Timbers Sawmill in Yarram.

The project will establish a “Bioenergy Cell” that incorporates the GridEdge SoNick Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and The Earth Systems

Stage 1 of the Renewable Energy will be the installation of 2 installations of 100kW solar & 90 kWh battery storage on each of the 2 mills at Radial timber.

The battery installations are using 4 x 620V SoNick batteries in a SoNick Zebra container. Each battery installation is supported by an ELPower 100 KW PCS (power conditioning system).

Stage 2 is the installation of an Earth Systems Charmaker Pyrolysis machine.

This machine will take the wood shavings from the dry mill and convert it into valuable bioproducts, including high grade biochar and wood vinegar. This project will also be trialling feasibility studies into converting the available high grade heat output into electricity and syngas into electricity to further support the mills electricity needs.

Stage 3 is the introduction of a benefit sharing model that has been designed to share the benefits of the system with the Yarram community group via funding for renewable energy projects in the Yarram district.

Proposed Stage 4 will be the installation of a larger pyrolysis unit plus additional solar and SoNick battery storage

Proposed Stage 5 will be the installation of a neighbourhood battery to provide energy for the wider Yarram community.

Chris McEvoy from Radial timber mill has always had the dream of employing a Bioenergy plant at the Mill to create a closed loop and self-sufficient sawmill which could be expanded to provide renewable energy to the local Yarram community. The Radial Timber Group has a number of sustainable timber plantations, which will supply the biomass as feedstock and be transformed into valuable bioproducts.

This Renewable energy park will help the Radial timber mill create this dream in stages, proving the concept at each stage.

One of the reasons the SoNick batteries were chosen was that they are safe, non-flammable, non-explosive and have proven to be reliable in many installations around the world. The non-flammability of the batteries is critical in an environment like a sawmill where other batteries pose the risk of causing or contributing to catastrophic fires die to the large amounts of flammable material at a timber mill

Establishing the renewable energy park will provide

Forestry Transition Benefits from The Project such as;

  • Energy security and resilience for the Mill
  • The production of bioproducts and research opportunities allow for the local community to become involved by the creation of new industries and jobs.
  • Opportunities for the local farming communities with the Biochar and Wood Vinegar applications

Yarram Community Benefits from The Project

  • Opportunity to benefit from Solar PV incorporated in the project via a community benefits sharing model
  • Increasing the resilience of the Mill to help secure jobs
  • Creating new jobs through involvement with newly created bioproduct industries

If you would like to know more about getting safe, reliable and recyclable Sodium Nickel Chloride (molten salt) battery storage for your own home, business or micro-grid to increase your energy independence visit us at https://GridEdge.com.au. We have a number of different sized systems that can cater to your budget and energy needs.

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