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Sugar Industry Illustrative Example (NSW Sugar Industry)
Milling
Overview: Broadwater Mill is located on the Richmond River in Northern New South Wales, south
of Ballina, and began its operations in 1881. Broadwater mill is one of 3 sugar mills owned and
operated by the NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative Limited. Other milling interests include Condong
Mill (Tweed River) and Harwood Mill (Clarence River). The NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative
Limited (Sunshine Sugar) was formed when cane growers purchased the three NSW sugar mills from
CSR in 1978.
In 2008 a partnership was formed with Delta Electricity (Sunshine Electricity) to commission two
cogeneration power plants at Broadwater and Condong, which generate renewable electricity
primarily from bagasse and supplemented by wood biomass materials. Total construction costs on the
upgrades were $220 M. Drivers for this initiative included the need to replace existing boilers (mill),
the opportunity of a diversified income stream (renewable energy market) and productivity
improvements (i.e. based on less sugar loss from whole of crop harvest). A number of factors have
limited the success of this venture and whole of crop harvesting.
Broadwater Mill on the Richmond River
(source: Sunshine Sugar)
Milling Statistics & Cane Supply: The Broadwater Mill has a capacity to crush over 1,000,000 tonnes
of sugarcane annually with an average of approximately 835,000 tonnes from 2005 – 2010 (Variety
Productivity Report, 2010 season Broadwater). The mill operates at a crushing rate of 260 tonnes per
hour with a maximum of 280 tonnes per hour. The mill relies on 5,000 – 6,000 tonnes per week of
biomass to maintain electricity generation operations. In comparison to the power plants at
Broadwater and Condong, other cogeneration projects within the sugar industry have not been based
on whole of crop harvesting. These projects rely on significant supplies of surplus bagasse from a
larger cane supply area.
Cogeneration: Since commissioning in 2008 a number of factors have impacted on the success of
whole of crop harvesting and the cogeneration venture. The industry in 2010 reverted back from
whole of crop harvesting and the cogeneration plant went into receivership (from 2010). The main
factors limiting whole of crop harvesting and processing include: i) the need to develop a cost
effective trash separation plant at the mill and ii) high transport costs due to lower than expected bulk
densities for whole of crop cane. The main factor significantly influencing the feasibility of the
cogeneration venture is a low REC price due to flooding of the market through solar initiatives (REC
price reduced to $25) and adequate biomass supply (primarily influenced by whole of crop experience
and supplementary materials) .
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