Bega Valley Shire LFG Project

Bega Valley Shire LFG Project is a landfill gas capture project located at the Central Waste Facility just south of Bega in New South Wales. Registered in February 2018, the project operates on a small regional landfill site rather than a wide traditional farming area. The broader Bega Valley region is renowned for its agricultural land use, predominantly supporting dairy cattle grazing, famously supplying the local cheese industry, as well as forestry operations. The environment is characterised by a moderate to high rainfall climate, with local soils typically consisting of fertile alluvial deposits along river flats and Kurosols or Dermosols in the surrounding pastures.

Landfill gas projects operate under a waste methodology determination that involves installing gas collection systems within active or closed landfills. As organic waste decomposes, it generates biogas consisting largely of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas. The methodology requires project proponents to capture this gas and combust it, often through flaring or by converting it into renewable electricity. This combustion process converts the methane into carbon dioxide, drastically reducing the overall global warming potential of the emissions.

For this specific project, proponent LGI Limited partnered with the Bega Valley Shire Council to install a bespoke biogas management system featuring an LGI 500 series ERF-compliant biogas flare. The infrastructure actively captures and combusts gas generated from both legacy and non-legacy waste. Because there is no overarching regulatory requirement for the regional council to capture this biogas, Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) serve as the sole revenue source for the site. This carbon finance model has made the project commercially viable, allowing the council to benefit from the emissions reduction system at minimal cost. Furthermore, the project's methodology was updated via variations in April 2022 and May 2023 to align with the revised Landfill Gas 2021 legislative determinations.