Mandalong Waste Coal Mine Gas Power Station

Mandalong Waste Coal Mine Gas Power Station is a displacement electricity production project located in Mandalong, New South Wales, approximately 5 kilometres west of Morisset and 35 kilometres southwest of Newcastle. Registered in November 2017, the project is situated within the operational footprint of Centennial Coal's Mandalong Mine, though its specific area size is not detailed in the public register. The surrounding Lake Macquarie region features a mix of heavy industrial land use for coal mining, rural residential properties, and significant forestry areas, including the adjacent Olney State Forest.

Operating under the Coal Mine Waste Gas Methodology (2015), the project involves installing and operating devices to capture and combust the methane component of coal mine waste gas. This methodology credits the destruction of fugitive methane emissions that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere during underground coal mining operations. By utilizing a displacement electricity production approach, the captured waste gas is converted into energy to power the mine, effectively displacing fossil-fuel-intensive electricity that would otherwise be drawn from the grid.

Environmentally, the Lake Macquarie region experiences a humid subtropical climate with relatively high rainfall, averaging over 1,100mm annually. Terrain and soils in this area belong to the Newcastle Coal Measures, characterized primarily by sedimentary clays and loams that support dense eucalypt forests in the undisturbed areas surrounding the mine site.

Global sustainable energy producer EDL Holdings announced a 20-year contract in October 2019 to build, own, and operate this 8-megawatt power station for Centennial Coal. Completed in late 2020, the facility supplies a significant portion of the Mandalong thermal coal mine's power requirements, practically reducing the operation's external energy consumption and carbon footprint. As noted on the public registry, the proponent was officially varied from EDL Projects (Australia) Pty Ltd to EDL Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd in July 2019.