Central Coast No.2 CMWM Power Generation Project (Revoked)

Central Coast No.2 CMWM Power Generation Project (Revoked) was a Coal Mine Waste Gas (CMWG) project located in the locality of Jilliby on the New South Wales Central Coast, approximately 12km northwest of the major town of Wyong. Registered in April 2016, the project was intended to operate within a region characterized by a complex mix of land uses, including rural-residential holdings, the Olney State Forest, and significant waste management and mining infrastructure. The specific coordinates provided place the project site in the immediate vicinity of the Buttonderry Waste Management Facility, likely co-located to utilize shared infrastructure or target coal seams extending into the Wallarah coalfield area.

The project operated under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Coal Mine Waste Gas) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology credits the capture and combustion of fugitive methane emissions from coal mines, gas that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere. Specifically, this project proposed installing a new electricity production device to combust the methane component of the gas, thereby converting it into less potent carbon dioxide while generating power.

Environmentally, the Jilliby and Dooralong Valley region experiences high rainfall, supporting lush vegetation and wet sclerophyll forests. The soils are typically podzolic, consisting of clays and loams derived from the Narrabeen Group sedimentary rocks, which complicates infrastructure development but supports the surrounding forestry and grazing operations.

Despite securing a carbon abatement contract (CAC295639) in November 2016 to deliver 145,000 tonnes of abatement, the project failed to proceed. The contract was terminated or lapsed in May 2019 with zero Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) issued. Subsequently, the project was voluntarily revoked in September 2019 under section 30 of the CFI Rule, a provision used when a proponent requests revocation, often because the project is no longer commercially viable or the underlying mining operations (potentially linked to the long-delayed Wallarah 2 Coal Project) did not progress as anticipated.