Thyra Piggery Project

Thyra Piggery Project is an animal effluent management project located at Thyra in southern New South Wales, approximately 42km north of Echuca and close to the nearby town of Mathoura. It was registered in April 2016. While the exact project area is unknown, the site supports a large-scale commercial piggery operation managing approximately 26,000 pigs.

Animal effluent management projects involve capturing the methane-rich biogas generated by the anaerobic decomposition of agricultural waste, such as pig manure, and destroying it to prevent greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere. Standard requirements under this methodology dictate that the effluent must be treated in an engineered biodigester or covered anaerobic lagoon, and the resulting biogas must be combusted via flaring or used to generate heat and electricity.

The region around Thyra is heavily utilised for agricultural purposes, primarily livestock grazing and cropping. The climate is semi-arid with a relatively low average annual rainfall of approximately 447mm. Soils in this wider region are typically Chromosols and Dermosols, which can be naturally hardsetting.

This project operates by collecting and combusting methane from piggery manure stored in engineered covered lagoons. Interestingly, the site was previously owned by PigCo before being acquired by SunPork Consolidated Pty Ltd. To tackle unreliable grid power, strict environmental goals, and expensive diesel costs, an onsite biogas combined heat and power (CHP) plant was installed. This enabled the farm to generate its own electricity, export surplus energy to the grid, and significantly reduce local odour issues. The project initially credited its emissions reductions under an older 2013 engineered biodigesters method before transitioning to the newer Animal Effluent Management methodology variation in April 2020.