Awaba Landfill Gas Project

Awaba Landfill Gas Project is an electricity generation from landfill gas project located at Awaba, approximately 27km southwest of Newcastle in the Lake Macquarie region of New South Wales. It was registered in February 2013 and covers an unknown area.

Electricity generation from landfill gas projects involve capturing methane, a potent greenhouse gas produced by decomposing organic waste, and combusting it to generate renewable electricity. Standard requirements for this methodology include the continuous monitoring of gas flow, methane concentration, and electricity generated, alongside adherence to strict regulatory baselines to ensure emissions reductions are additional to standard business practices.

The Lake Macquarie region surrounding Awaba features a mix of coastal environments, native bushland, and urban development. The area experiences a temperate to sub-tropical climate with high annual rainfall, averaging around 1,148mm. Situated within the Sydney Basin, the local soils are derived from Permian and Triassic sedimentary rocks, predominantly consisting of sandy clays, medium clays, and alluvial deposits.

The project involves the continuing operation of a landfill gas collection system. It transitioned from a revoked Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) method and continues to capture and combust gas from both legacy and non-legacy waste. Interestingly, in September 2013, the Clean Energy Regulator required the relinquishment of 22,941 Kyoto Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) in relation to LMS Energy's Wollert Landfill Gas Project; these units were subsequently relinquished from the Awaba project instead. Over its lifetime, the project has transitioned through the 2015 and 2021 regulatory methodology determinations and successfully completed a fixed-delivery Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC783640) with the Australian Government in April 2022.