Continuous Drying Kiln Upgrade - Dardanup Mill

Continuous Drying Kiln Upgrade - Dardanup Mill is an industrial energy efficiency project located at the Wespine sawmill in Dardanup, approximately 15km southeast of the major port city of Bunbury, Western Australia. Registered on January 25, 2018, the project falls under the Industrial Electricity and Fuel Efficiency methodology. The facility sits within the Shire of Dardanup, a region characterised by a mix of heavy industrial processing, forestry operations, and intensive agriculture such as dairy and beef cattle farming.

The project activity centres on the installation of a Continuous Drying Kiln (CDK) to process softwood timber. Unlike traditional batch kilns that require significant energy to heat up and cool down for each load, a CDK allows timber to move steadily through the chamber on a dual-track system. This technology utilises heat exchange between entering and exiting timber stacks, maintaining a stable temperature and significantly reducing thermal energy waste. Reports indicate this specific upgrade replaced five older batch kilns, cutting the site's gas usage by approximately 40% and electricity consumption by 25%.

The Dardanup area experiences a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The local environment features a transition between the sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain and the loamy, gravelly earths of the Darling Scarp. The region generally receives high rainfall relative to the inland wheatbelt, supporting the extensive pine plantations that supply the mill.

Wespine Industries, the project proponent, is a major softwood producer in Western Australia. This upgrade was notable for being one of the largest single-capacity continuous timber kilns in Australia at the time of its commissioning in 2019. By reducing the energy intensity required to dry timber, the project generates Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) equivalent to the emissions avoided compared to the facility's historical baseline.