A waste to energy facility under construction in Wollert will convert 100 tonnes of organic food waste a day into electricity from next year.
Yarra Valley Water is building the facility next to its treatment plant at Wollert, near the Hume Freeway.
Work on the $27 million facility began last October and is expected to be completed in August.
However, the facility won’t be commissioned and fully operational until March.
Manager Damien Bassett said that once it was fully operational, the facility would be able to produce one kilowatt of electricity per hour.
Energy generated will be used to power the treatement plant, with excess energy returned to the electricity grid.
Mr Basset said the facility would use liquid and solid food waste generated during manufacturing processes at commercial food businesses, as well liquids such as fats and oils from restaurants.
He said the facility would reduce the burden on local landfills as it was expected to divert 33,000 tonnes of waste per year.
Construction of the treatment plan, which will be the first of its kind in Victoria, has created 18 jobs, while a further four jobs will be created once it is operational.
