MRL LFG Abatement Project

The MRL LFG Abatement Project is a landfill gas electricity generation project located at the Melbourne Regional Landfill in Ravenhall, approximately 20km west of the Melbourne CBD. Registered in January 2013, the project operates within a major heavy industrial and waste management precinct surrounded by the rapidly expanding urban fringe of Melbourne's west. The site sits on the Victorian Volcanic Plain, a region characterized by heavy basaltic clay soils and a relatively dry climate due to the rain shadow effect of the Otway Ranges, typically receiving around 500mm of rainfall annually.

This project operates under the Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas 2021 methodology. This framework allows project developers to earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) by capturing methane, a potent greenhouse gas released by decomposing organic waste, and combusting it to generate electricity. By converting methane into carbon dioxide and energy, the project reduces the net global warming potential of the landfill's emissions while contributing renewable energy to the grid.

Originally known as the Boral Deer Park Biogas Energy Project, the facility underwent a significant transition in 2015 when Cleanaway Waste Management acquired the landfill business from Boral. Following this acquisition, the project proponent changed to Landfill Operations Pty Ltd, a Cleanaway entity. In 2017, Cleanaway completed a major infrastructure upgrade, boosting the site's waste-to-energy capacity to 8.8MW, sufficient to power approximately 13,000 homes. The project successfully completed a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC662701) with the Australian Government in the years following the acquisition and transitioned to the updated 2021 methodology in 2022 to continue its crediting period.