Browns Plains Landfill Gas Project

Browns Plains Landfill Gas Project is a landfill gas electricity generation project located at Browns Plains, approximately 25km south of the Brisbane CBD in the Logan City local government area of Queensland. It was registered on 11 April 2013 and covers an undefined project area centered around the existing Browns Plains Waste and Recycling Facility.

Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas projects involve capturing methane-rich gas generated by decomposing organic legacy and non-legacy waste within a landfill. Instead of allowing this potent greenhouse gas to vent into the atmosphere, the gas is collected and combusted in an internal combustion engine (such as a spark-ignition reciprocating engine) to generate electricity that is then exported to the grid.

The Logan and Browns Plains region is situated in south-east Queensland, an area known for a humid subtropical climate with high summer rainfall. The local topography typically features alluvial clays and sandy loam (podzolic) soils. The predominant land use in this specific area is urban residential, commercial, and dedicated municipal waste management, though the broader historical peri-urban region has supported grazing and natural bushland.

Built and managed by EDL LFG (QLD) Pty Ltd, the project has upgraded its existing collection systems and transitioned through several methodology variations, moving from simple capture and combustion in 2012 to electricity generation methodologies in 2015 and 2022. The project uses a 2.18 MW generation engine. Notably, the Browns Plains project successfully fulfilled a fixed-delivery Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC403360) in September 2022. As part of a bundled contract with the Lucas Heights 2B and Roghan Road landfill gas projects, EDL successfully delivered 947,569 ACCUs to the Australian Government over a 7.4-year delivery period.