Awaba Landfill Gas Project

The Awaba Landfill Gas Project is an energy and emissions avoidance project located at the Awaba Waste Management Facility, approximately 4km west of Toronto and 25km southwest of Newcastle in New South Wales. Registered in February 2013 by LMS Energy Pty Ltd, the project operates on a site originally established in 1986. The facility manages waste for the Lake Macquarie City Council area and accepts approximately 70,000 tonnes of waste annually, which serves as the fuel source for the gas capture system.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology rewards proponents for capturing methane, a potent greenhouse gas released during the decomposition of organic waste, and combusting it to generate renewable electricity. By converting methane into carbon dioxide and energy, the project significantly reduces the global warming potential of the emissions while contributing baseload power to the local grid. The project manages both "legacy" waste (deposited before July 2012) and "non-legacy" waste streams.

Situated in the coastal Hunter region, the project area experiences a high rainfall climate, with annual averages typically exceeding 1,100mm. The local terrain is characterized by the "Awaba" erosional soil landscape, consisting of gravelly loams and sandy clays derived from the underlying sedimentary Narrabeen Group rocks. These soils are naturally acidic and support the native bushland buffer zones that surround the landfill operations.

Notable administrative history for this project includes a cross-project relinquishment event in 2013. The Clean Energy Regulator required LMS Energy to relinquish over 22,000 credits related to their Wollert Landfill Gas Project (Victoria), which were subsequently sourced and paid from the Awaba project's holdings. This highlights the project's productive capacity during that period. The project's fixed delivery contract (CAC783640) with the Australian Government was completed in April 2022, though the project remains active with a crediting period extending through December 2026.