Bartter Enterprises Beresfield Processing Plant Biogas Cogeneration System (Revoked)

Bartter Enterprises Beresfield Processing Plant Biogas Cogeneration System (Revoked) was an industrial wastewater and biogas project located in Beresfield, approximately 20km northwest of Newcastle in the Hunter Region of New South Wales. It was registered in September 2015, and while the exact project area size is recorded as unknown (which is standard for facility-based waste management projects), it was situated entirely within the confines of a major poultry processing facility. The Beresfield area serves as a major industrial hub set within the broader Hunter Valley, a region well-known for intensive agriculture, poultry farming, viticulture, and coal mining. The local environment experiences a moderate to high rainfall climate, with soils primarily consisting of fertile alluvial deposits and clay loams common to the Hunter River floodplain.

Industrial wastewater projects operate under the Carbon Farming Initiative-Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Wastewater Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology rewards projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions by upgrading existing wastewater treatment systems. Standard requirements involve capturing the methane-rich biogas generated during the breakdown of organic matter, typically by replacing highly emissive open lagoons with covered anaerobic digesters, and combusting the captured gas. The combustion process is usually achieved by flaring the gas or running it through an internal combustion engine to produce renewable electricity and heat (cogeneration).

This specific project was established by Bartter Enterprises, a major Australian poultry processor known for the Steggles brand and a subsidiary of Baiada. The project aimed to replace the deep, open anaerobic lagoons that were treating the industrial wastewater generated by the poultry processing plant. The plan was to capture the resulting biogas using closed anaerobic digesters and combust it via an internal combustion engine to power the facility. Ultimately, the project was officially revoked in January 2018 under section 33 of the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) Act. Interestingly, around this exact same time in mid-2018, the Beresfield facility was undergoing separate major upgrades to its refrigeration systems which resulted in a severe ammonia gas leak. This incident caused the evacuation of the building, hospitalized several employees, and resulted in a significant environmental prosecution against Bartter Enterprises, highlighting the operational complexities and site overhauls occurring at the plant during the period the carbon project was revoked.