Copping Landfill Gas Project

Copping Landfill Gas Project is a landfill gas emissions avoidance and electricity generation project located at the Copping Refuse Disposal Site, approximately 45km east of Hobart in south-east Tasmania. It was registered in December 2013 and covers an unspecified area within the broader waste management facility.

Landfill gas electricity generation projects involve installing a network of extraction wells and pipes to capture methane gas generated by the decomposition of organic waste in an oxygen-poor environment. A standard requirement of this methodology is the combustion of this captured gas to generate renewable electricity, which prevents potent methane from entering the atmosphere and displaces fossil fuel power generation.

The Copping region is known for rolling agricultural farmland, livestock grazing, and forestry operations. The area is considered to have a cool-temperate climate with relatively low summer rainfall, and local soils generally consist of duplex clay-loams, sands, and some localized basalt (Ferrosols) and sodic soils that require careful drainage management.

This project transitioned from a revoked Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) legacy waste method and continues to capture and combust gas generated at the landfill from both legacy and non-legacy waste. The landfill itself is a critical site managed by Southern Waste Solutions, handling municipal, commercial, and industrial waste for southern Tasmania. LMS Energy purchased the rights to the landfill gas and officially commenced electricity production through the system in February 2019. Additionally, the project secured a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC164941) in April 2015, which was successfully completed in October 2021 after delivering over 385,000 tonnes of emissions abatement to the Commonwealth.