A micro hydro system that converts energy from water into electricity is now generating ‘green’ renewable power for the Gippsland Water Factory.

The system, which forms part of the Gippsland Water Factory (GWF) project, was recently commissioned and started operating at full capacity last month. It is now generating about 320 kilowatts of electricity; the amount used by about 200 homes per day.

When Gippsland Water Factory’s Maryvale treatment plant is operational later this year, the electricity from the micro hydro scheme will be used to help power the site. Until then, the electricity is being sold back into the grid.

The micro hydro system was built on the inlet pipeline at Gippsland Water’s Pine Gully Reservoir, located near Gippsland Water Factory (GWF) at Maryvale. Pine Gully is the storage used by Australian Paper’s Maryvale mill and the reservoir where recycled water produced at GWF will be piped for industrial re-use.

About 60 megalitres (million litres) of raw water from Moondarra Reservoir currently flows into Pine Gully each day. Previously, the water simply flowed through a valve into the reservoir, but it is now diverted through the micro hydro turbine first, which utilises the power of the water to make electricity.

In total, more than 20 per cent of the electricity used at GWF’s Maryvale wastewater treatment and recycling plant will be self-generated using renewable energy sources.