BlueScope Port Kembla Steelworks Installation and Commissioning of 22 Turbo Alternator (Revoked)

BlueScope Port Kembla Steelworks Installation and Commissioning of 22 Turbo Alternator is an industrial energy efficiency project located at the Port Kembla Steelworks, approximately 5km south of the Wollongong CBD in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Registered in September 2016, the project was designed to improve electricity and fuel efficiency within the massive 760-hectare heavy industrial complex. The project was subsequently revoked in June 2021 under Section 30 of the CFI Rule, indicating a voluntary revocation by the proponent.

The project operated under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Industrial Electricity and Fuel Efficiency) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology credits activities that reduce emissions by improving the energy efficiency of industrial equipment or by installing new equipment to generate electricity that displaces grid consumption. Specifically, this project involved the installation and commissioning of the No. 22 Turbo Alternator. In steelworks, turbo alternators typically utilise by-product steam or waste gases (such as blast furnace gas) to generate electricity on-site, thereby reducing reliance on the external electricity grid and lowering overall carbon intensity.

While the site itself is a highly modified industrial zone on reclaimed land and coastal hardstand, the surrounding Illawarra region is characterised by a high-rainfall coastal climate with average annual precipitation exceeding 1,100mm. The broader landscape features a mix of urban residential areas and the escarpment's clay and sandstone-derived soils, though these environmental factors have little direct impact on the enclosed industrial processes of the steelworks. BlueScope Steel, the proponent, continues to operate the facility and has pursued various other upgrades, such as the No. 6 Blast Furnace reline and the planning for a No. 23 Turbo Alternator, as part of its broader decarbonisation strategy.