Shoalhaven Landfill Gas Abatement Facility (Revoked)

Shoalhaven Landfill Gas Abatement Facility (Revoked) is a landfill gas capture project located at the West Nowra Recycling and Waste Depot, approximately 4km southwest of Nowra in New South Wales. It was registered in August 2013, and while the exact project area is not publicly documented, it operates within the active footprint of the municipal landfill. The broader Shoalhaven region surrounding the facility is primarily known for native forestry, coastal tourism, and agricultural operations such as dairy and beef grazing.

Landfill gas projects involve installing and operating a network of extraction wells and pipes to capture biogas, primarily methane, generated by decomposing organic legacy and non-legacy waste. Under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Landfill Gas) Methodology, the standard requirements dictate that this captured methane must be actively combusted, typically through flaring or electricity generation, to convert it into less potent carbon dioxide and drastically reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The Nowra environment is characterised by a coastal temperate climate with high average annual rainfall, often exceeding 1,000mm. The soils in the surrounding valleys and escarpments are a mix of shallow, skeletal soils on sandstone ridges and poorly drained Chromosols, with deeper, more productive alluvial soils located closer to the Shoalhaven River.

Originally operating with AGL Energy Services, the project transitioned fully to the Shoalhaven City Council in 2019. The project was officially revoked in February 2021, but carbon abatement at the site continued seamlessly. LGI Limited subsequently partnered with the council to take over the site's biogas management under a new ERF project (the Shoalhaven LFG Upgrade Project). They upgraded the facility with new ERF-compliant flares and initiated the development of a renewable hybrid power station with advanced battery storage to supply dispatchable baseload and peaking power to the local energy grid.