Dakabin Landfill Gas Project

The Dakabin Landfill Gas Project is a waste-to-energy initiative located at the Dakabin Waste Management Facility, approximately 30km north of the Brisbane CBD in Queensland. Registered in April 2014, the project is a partnership between the Moreton Bay Regional Council (the site owner) and LGI Limited (the operator). The facility sits within a peri-urban zone that has seen significant residential development in the nearby North Lakes area, transitioning from historical semi-rural and grazing land uses.

Operating under the Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas methodology, the project involves an active gas collection system that extracts methane-rich biogas generated by the decomposition of organic waste. Instead of releasing this potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, it is captured and combusted in a dedicated power station to generate renewable electricity. LGI Limited commissioned the site's initial 1MW generator in 2015 and expanded capacity to approximately 2MW in 2018, utilizing GE Jenbacher gas engines to feed power into the local grid.

The region experiences a subtropical climate with high annual rainfall, typically exceeding 1,000mm. These moist conditions and warm temperatures are significant for the project as they accelerate the biological breakdown of waste, thereby increasing the rate of landfill gas production. The local soil profile in the Dakabin and Narangba area is generally characterized by texture-contrast soils, often featuring loamy topsoils overlying clay subsoils.

A notable aspect of this project is its long-term operational history and successful participation in the Emissions Reduction Fund. The project secured a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC752641) with the Australian Government in April 2017, which has since been completed, indicating the project successfully delivered its contracted volume of carbon abatement. The site is part of a broader renewable energy strategy by the Moreton Bay Regional Council, which includes similar gas-to-energy projects at its Bunya and Caboolture facilities, collectively powering thousands of local homes.