Jacks Gully Landfill Gas Project

Jacks Gully Landfill Gas Project is an electricity generation from landfill gas project located at the Spring Farm Advanced Resource Recovery Facility (formerly Jacks Gully Landfill) near Camden, roughly 60km southwest of Sydney in New South Wales. It was registered in November 2012. While the exact project area boundary is undefined, it encompasses the active footprint of the waste management facility.

Electricity generation from landfill gas projects involve the installation and operation of a gas collection system to capture methane generated by the decomposition of organic waste in a landfill. Under this methodology, the captured methane must be combusted in an internal combustion engine or generator to produce electricity, effectively preventing a potent greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere while offsetting the use of fossil fuels for power generation.

The Camden and Spring Farm region experiences a moderate climate with an average annual rainfall of approximately 700-800mm. The area sits on the Cumberland Plain, where soils are primarily composed of Wianamatta Group shales that form heavy clay and podzolic soils. Historically, the general land use of the surrounding area consisted of rural grazing and agriculture, but the region is now characterized by rapid urban development and centralized waste management operations.

This project transitioned from a revoked legacy Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) method and continues to capture and combust gas generated from both legacy and non-legacy waste. The methodology was varied in 2015 and again in February 2022 to the current 2021 Determination. Operated by Energy Developments Limited (EDL LFG (NSW) Pty Ltd), the project generates sufficient landfill gas to power multiple on-site generators, providing approximately 2.3 MW of renewable electricity capacity. Furthermore, a Commonwealth carbon abatement contract (CAC405488) established for the project in April 2015 has now been fully completed.