Wollongong Coal Mine Waste Methane Project (Revoked)

The Wollongong Coal Mine Waste Methane Project (Revoked) was a coal mine waste gas project located near the suburb of Wongawilli, approximately 15km southwest of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Registered in October 2015, the project was situated at the Wongawilli Colliery, an underground coal mine embedded within the Illawarra Escarpment. The surrounding area is defined by a mix of historic coal mining infrastructure, peri-urban residential zones, and the dense eucalypt forests of the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area.

The project operated under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Coal Mine Waste Gas) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology incentivizes the capture and destruction of fugitive methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas released during coal extraction, that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere. The specific activity for this project involved installing and operating new flaring devices to combust methane from the mine's waste gas drainage system, converting it into less harmful carbon dioxide.

Environmentally, the region is characterized by high rainfall due to the orographic effect of the escarpment, with soils largely derived from the Narrabeen Group and Hawkesbury Sandstone, consisting of clays and sandy loams.

The project faced significant headwinds associated with the underlying mine operator, Wollongong Coal Ltd (majority-owned by Jindal Steel and Power). The project's Carbon Abatement Contract (CAC195675), secured in November 2016, was terminated or lapsed by May 2018 with zero credits delivered. Ultimately, the project was revoked in September 2019. This timeline coincides with the mine's operational struggles; the Wongawilli Colliery was placed into "care and maintenance" and eventually closed in 2019 following repeated safety violations and financial difficulties.