TRIGENERATION ENERGY

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (16:01): My question is to the Minister for Energy. Can the minister update the house about the state's activities in relation to trigeneration?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Energy, Minister for the Northern Suburbs) (16:02): I was interested to hear that on 22 September the Leader of the Opposition, in giving her second headland speech, expressed an enthusiasm for trigeneration and gave this technology a central role in her energy policy.

I am pleased to inform the house that the South Australian government has not come lately to this technology and recognises the importance of cogeneration and trigeneration systems in our efforts to reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions through improved energy efficiency. A typical cogeneration system is a small gas-fired power station which is located in a building or an area where there is a high demand for heat, such as a swimming centre that needs to heat water or a hospital that requires heat for its air conditioning system. The system produces both electricity and heat, hence the term 'cogeneration'.

As a result, the overall efficiency of the system is much higher than conventional power stations. I think the efficiency jumps from around 30 per cent to about 55 or 60 per cent. This means that less fuel is used to provide electrical and heat energy to a building, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy costs. There are around two dozen cogeneration systems installed across South Australia. The majority of these are installed in hospitals and industrial facilities.

The Leader of the Opposition talked specifically about trigeneration systems, and these involve the use of a cogeneration system in conjunction with an absorption chiller. Similar to the way a refrigerator works, the absorption chiller converts some of the heat into cooling energy, which can be used to provide air conditioning. This means that the system provides electricity, heating and cooling energy, hence the term 'trigeneration'.

Trigeneration is a newer technology and is much less widely used in South Australia, but I am pleased to advise that the South Australian government has been actively supporting its deployment in South Australia. Through its anchor tenancies in SA Water House on Victoria Square and the Conservatory on Hindmarsh Square, the South Australian government has supported the first installation of trigeneration systems in new offices in South Australia.

Through the Building Innovation Fund we are providing Chesser Properties Pty Ltd with $270,000 to install a trigeneration system in Chesser House in Grenfell Street. This building is 20 years old and is an Adelaide first. The project is expected to demonstrate how trigeneration can be applied to an existing building and, in particular, how it can be integrated with existing building engineering services.

The new Royal Adelaide Hospital will also include a trigeneration system. It will comprise reciprocating engines connected to absorption chillers, which will utilise waste heat to provide heating and cooling to the building. This will help to maximise energy efficiency, minimise the carbon footprint and reduce the running costs of the new hospital. While to date trigeneration has only been used to supply single buildings, the South Australian government is also exploring the potential to use trigeneration to supply energy to multiple buildings or small precincts.

As part of stage 1 of the Bowden Urban Village redevelopment we have called for expressions of interest for the design, ownership, construction, operation and maintenance of a trigeneration system to service eight apartment buildings. The buildings consist of 144 residential apartments and approximately 1,500 square metres of commercial space. Key requirements for the trigeneration solution are that it must capitalise on the diversity and density of the Bowden project and meet consumer needs at lower cost and lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional grid connection options.

This is a proposition well worth looking at for areas of medium and high density development and will be potentially the first such system installed in Australia. There are other trigeneration projects underway that are not yet ready to be announced, but rest assured that we are progressing these, and further information will be announced in due course. I would like to thank the Leader of the Opposition for her bipartisan support of the government's energy policy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Bragg.