Oaky Creek 2 Waste Coal Mine Gas Power Station

Oaky Creek 2 Waste Coal Mine Gas Power Station is a coal mine waste gas project located at the Oaky Creek Coal Mine approximately 17km east of Tieri in Central Queensland. It was registered in July 2015 and covers an unknown area within an active industrial mine lease.

Coal mine waste gas projects involve installing and operating displacement electricity production devices to capture fugitive methane emissions released during underground coal mining operations. Rather than venting this potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, the project captures the gas and combusts it, converting the methane into carbon dioxide, which has a significantly lower global warming potential, and generating electricity that displaces power drawn from the grid.

The Tieri region within the Bowen Basin is globally renowned for large-scale metallurgical coal production, while the surrounding cleared Brigalow scrub is extensively utilized for cattle grazing. The area is classified as sub-tropical and semi-arid, experiencing a summer-dominant rainfall pattern that averages between 600mm and 700mm annually. The soils are dominated by Vertosols, which are fertile cracking clays typical of the Brigalow Belt that are prone to significant movement during wet and dry cycles.

Operated by EDL (OCI) Pty Limited in partnership with Glencore, the Oaky Creek 2 project functions as an expansion of an existing facility, adding 15MW of generation capacity to the site utilizing five GE Jenbacher engines. According to the proponent, the project generates approximately 100 GWh of electricity per year, enough to power roughly 18,000 homes, and avoids about 80,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions annually. The project successfully fulfilled a Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC102443) with the Australian Government, completing its required deliveries in February 2018.