Wyndham Landfill Gas Project

Wyndham Landfill Gas Project is a landfill gas electricity generation project located at the Wests Road Refuse Disposal Facility in Werribee, Victoria, approximately 35 kilometers southwest of the Melbourne CBD. Registered on February 10, 2013, the project is operated by LMS Energy Pty Ltd in partnership with the Wyndham City Council. It captures methane generated from decomposing organic waste within the active landfill cells and combusts this gas to generate renewable electricity.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2021. This methodology incentivizes the collection of landfill gas, primarily methane, a potent greenhouse gas, that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. By combusting the gas in specialized generators, the project converts the methane into less harmful carbon dioxide and produces baseload renewable energy that is fed into the local grid.

Regionally, the project is situated on the Western Volcanic Plains, an area characterized by heavy basaltic clay soils (often referred to as "cracking clays") derived from ancient lava flows. The Werribee area lies in a distinct "rain shadow" created by the Otway Ranges to the southwest, resulting in significantly lower annual rainfall (approximately 450mm–550mm) compared to Melbourne's eastern suburbs. While the immediate site is a waste management facility, the broader region is a transition zone featuring intensive market gardening (Werribee South), historical grazing land, and a rapidly expanding residential growth corridor.

A notable aspect of this project is its regulatory longevity; it has successfully transitioned through multiple iterations of the carbon credit scheme, moving from the original 'CFI' Legacy Waste method (2012) to the 2015 determination, and finally to the current 2021 Electricity Generation method. The project previously held a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC783510) with the Australian Government, which was successfully completed in April 2022. The facility is a significant local energy asset, reportedly generating enough electricity to power approximately 9,000 homes annually.