Silver Fern Farms Finegand Energy Centre
A waste-to-energy scheme utilising process sludges and wood residues for operational heat requirements at the Silver Fern Farms Finegand location.
Commissioned: 2005 and 2013
Boiler Capacity: 4.5 MWth each
Silver Fern Farms Finegand Energy Centre
The Silver Fern Farms (SFF) plant is located within the SFF Finegand site in Balclutha. The Energy Centre consists of an 8.5MW unattended sludge and wood residue-fired steam boiler including ancillary plant, bag house, and building housing the controls and electrical equipment.
The Bubbling Fluidised Bed boiler can run on three different types of fuel; process sludge, wood fuel, and coal (not used as the primary fuel source). Pioneer is responsible for all repairs and major maintenance while SFF is responsible for operation (as instructed by Pioneer) and minor maintenance and monitoring. The plant operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the peak works season, to dispose of the sludge and generate a base load steam supply to the Finegand works.