Shoalhaven Water and the University of Wollongong (UOW) have been recognised for a project that incorporates battery technology to make sewage pumping stations more reliable during power outages.
The Infrastructure Project, Innovation Award (Regional) was presented to the team at the NSW Heads of Water Gala Dinner hosted by the NSW Australian Water Association on Friday night.
Mayor Patricia White congratulated the Shoalhaven Water team for their collaborative partnership with UOW and their commitment to exploring new ways to strengthen community resilience.
“The pilot project at Shoalhaven Heads has demonstrated clear environmental and economic benefits by providing reliable backup power for our sewerage pump stations,” Cr White said.
“Traditionally, emergency power involves sending crews out with diesel generators, which is costly, slow and not always possible during storms or natural disasters,” she said.
“This new battery system keeps pumps running during a power outage which protects our waterways from overflows and reduces the need for emergency diesel generators.”
The pilot project was part funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), Research Hub for Safe and Reliable Energy.
The trial sites are at Shoalhaven Heads, with 10 battery energy storage systems (BESS) installed. The batteries have a minimum resilience of eight hours of backup power per site during grid outages.
The project has delivered tangible benefits and real hardware improving infrastructure resilience, environmental protection, and regional innovation capacity, creating a scalable, sustainable model for infrastructure resilience in the Australian water sector.
Shoalhaven Water aims to expand the application of this technology to more of the 250+ sewer pump stations across the Shoalhaven.
