Berrima Alternative Fuel Substitution and Kiln Energy Efficiency Project

Berrima Alternative Fuel Substitution and Kiln Energy Efficiency Project is an Industrial and Commercial Emissions Reduction project located at the Boral Berrima Cement Works in Berrima, approximately 120km southwest of Sydney in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. It was registered in May 2021 and operates within an industrial facility rather than across a traditional land-based project area. The surrounding Southern Highlands region is generally known for cattle and sheep grazing, boutique agriculture, and forestry operations. The area experiences a temperate, high-rainfall climate, with soils predominantly consisting of clay, shale, and fertile basalt.

Industrial and Commercial Emissions Reduction projects involve reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by upgrading, modifying, or replacing existing equipment, or by switching to lower-emission fuel sources. Standard requirements under this methodology dictate that proponents must strictly measure and calculate baseline energy consumption and compare it against the post-upgrade operational data to accurately quantify the volume of emissions avoided, ensuring all abatement is measurable and additional.

This project was established to completely overhaul the energy profile of the cement plant, incorporating activities such as air compression upgrades, insulation, process heat optimisation, variable speed drives, waste heat capture, and major fuel switching. Most notably, the facility is transitioning its massive cement kilns away from coal in favour of alternative, waste-derived fuels such as woodchips, refuse-derived fuel, and tyre waste. The Berrima Cement Works is a highly significant industrial asset, supplying approximately 40% of all cement used in NSW and the ACT. Championed by carbon and energy consultancy Northmore Gordon Pty Ltd, this ACCU project aligns with a broader site decarbonisation strategy that has received tens of millions in state and federal grants to safeguard the future of domestic, low-carbon cement manufacturing.