Rochedale Landfill Gas Project

The Rochedale Landfill Gas Project is a waste sector project located at the Brisbane City Council's Rochedale Landfill, approximately 17 kilometers southeast of the Brisbane CBD in Queensland. Registered in March 2013, this project is a long-running initiative operated by LMS Energy Pty Ltd. The project area covers the extent of the active landfill site, which sits within a region that has rapidly transitioned from semi-rural market gardens to dense urban and industrial land use.

Operating under the Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas methodology, the project involves the installation and maintenance of a gas collection system that extracts landfill gas (LFG) generated by the decomposition of organic waste. This gas, primarily composed of methane and carbon dioxide, is captured via a network of wells and pipes. Instead of venting into the atmosphere, the methane is combusted in specialised generators (such as Jenbacher gas engines) to produce renewable electricity. The project is notable for managing gas from both "legacy" waste (deposited before the scheme commenced) and "non-legacy" waste, ensuring comprehensive emissions abatement while supplying baseload power to the local grid.

The Rochedale area is situated in a sub-tropical climate zone characterized by warm, humid summers and high rainfall, averaging over 1,300mm annually. The region is geologically distinct for its deep, fertile red clay loams, locally known as "Rochedale red soils" (classified as Ferrosols or Krasnozems). These well-drained soils historically supported extensive fruit and vegetable farming before the area was developed for waste management and residential purposes.

An interesting feature of this project is its integration into what LMS Energy describes as a "Smart Energy Hub." The facility creates a circular economy outcome by converting municipal waste emissions into power for thousands of Brisbane households. Reports indicate the site utilizes multiple 1.1MW engines to generate over 18,000 MWh of renewable energy per annum. The project originally operated under the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) before transitioning to the current ACCU scheme methodologies.