WINNER - 2025 Outstanding Renewable Gas Project
Congratulations to Evo Energy Technologies and Kilcoy Global Foods for winning the award for Outstanding Renewable Gas Project in our 2025 Australian Renewable Heat Awards.
The Awards recognise the innovative work out there which is leading the transition to renewable heat and setting the benchmarks for projects that follow.
Learn more about this winning project below.
Kilcoy Global Foods is driving its sustainability strategy through a shift to renewable energy
Industry sector: Meat processing
Location: Kilcoy, QLD
Completed: August 2022
Project partners:
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Evo Energy Technologies
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Kilcoy Global Foods
Project summary
At the heart of Kilcoy Global Foods’ sustainability strategy is a shift to renewable energy, led by co-generation and biomass boiler initiatives.
A major milestone in this transformation was the completion of the Co-generation Project by Evo Energy Technologies, highlighting their expertise in delivering advanced sustainable energy solutions.
The project involved the installation of three Combined Heat and Power (CHP) engines with a total capacity of 4,000kW - capable of generating 4 megawatts of electricity onsite. Complementing the CHP engines are three Evo Command commercial heat pumps and a cutting-edge Biological Desulphurisation Treatment system that converts wastewater into renewable energy.
The CHP engines are powered by biogas produced from Kilcoy Global Foods’s bio-rich wastewater. Two large anaerobic digesters process the wastewater, producing both treated water and biogas onsite. Supporting infrastructure includes low- and high-pressure biogas delivery blowers, a gas dehumidification system, three EvoHeat Command heat pumps, and 2,000L activated carbon tanks. The heat pumps play a vital role in maintaining the optimal operating temperature of the biological scrubber and supporting the gas chilling process. This system efficiently removes hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) from the biogas, purifying it for use in the CHP engines.
The Co-generation project enables Kilcoy Global Foods to significantly reduce its reliance on grid electricity and produce 100% renewable hot water onsite - equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 4,000 Australian households.
This innovative and fully integrated energy solution not only supports Kilcoy Global Foods' environmental goals but also sets a new industry standard for sustainable, energy-efficient practices in large-scale meat processing.
You can view a video of the project on the Kilcoy Global Foods website.
Technologies featured in this project
In this project, Evo Energy Technologies integrated three Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units totaling 4000kW, alongside high-efficiency heat pumps and a sophisticated Biological Desulphurisation Treatment system, transforming waste into renewable energy. This project consisted of the installation of the following technologies:
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2 x 1.2MW CHP avus 1000b Biogas
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1 x 1.5MW CHP avus 1500b Biogas
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3 x Evo Command heat pumps
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Biological desulphurisation treatment system, including two large anaerobic digesters, low- and high-pressure biogas delivery blowers, a gas dehumidification system, and 2,000L activated carbon tanks
Results and benefits of the project
Kilcoy Global Foods has pioneered a truly transformative environmental innovation by becoming the first certified carbon neutral large scale beef processing facility in Australia - and likely the world. This certification was achieved through a combination of advanced renewable technologies and system-wide optimisation, positioning Kilcoy as a trailblaser in sustainable meat processing.
At the heart of the facility’s innovation are two anaerobic digesters that convert bio-rich wastewater into biogas. The biogas is used in the three CHP engines providing up to 4 MW of self generated renewable electricity and 100% on site renewable hot water through high efficiency heat pumps, equivalent to power approximately 4,000 Australian homes annually.
