Wyndham Landfill Gas Project

The Wyndham Landfill Gas Project is a waste-to-energy operation located at the Wyndham Refuse Disposal Facility in Werribee, approximately 35 kilometers southwest of Melbourne's central business district in Victoria. Registered in February 2013, the project is operated by LMS Energy Pty Ltd, a prominent figure in the Australian bioenergy sector. The facility sits within the rapidly expanding western growth corridor of Melbourne, an area historically defined by agriculture and market gardening but increasingly transitioning to urban residential use.

This project operates under the "Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas" methodology. The primary activity involves an engineered gas collection system that extracts methane, a potent greenhouse gas produced by the decomposition of organic waste, from the landfill mass. Instead of allowing this gas to escape into the atmosphere, it is captured and combusted in generator engines to produce renewable electricity. This process achieves carbon abatement in two ways: by converting methane into less harmful carbon dioxide and by displacing electricity that would otherwise be generated by fossil-fuel-heavy grid sources. The project explicitly covers gas capture from both "legacy" waste (deposited before the Carbon Pricing Mechanism) and "non-legacy" waste.

Environmentally, the Werribee region is situated on the Victorian Volcanic Plain, characterized by heavy clay and basalt soils derived from ancient lava flows. The area is distinct for its local climate; it lies in a "rain shadow" created by the Otway and Brisbane Ranges, resulting in significantly lower annual rainfall (approximately 450mm to 550mm) compared to the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

The project has successfully navigated several transitions in regulatory methodology (from 2012 to 2015, and finally to the 2021 determination) to maintain compliance. Notably, the project held a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC783510) with the Australian Government, which was successfully completed in April 2022. The site has also been the subject of innovation, with LMS Energy exploring the installation of Australia's first bioenergy-powered data center at the facility to utilize the renewable power generated on-site.