Bega Valley Shire LFG Project

Bega Valley Shire LFG Project is a Landfill Gas project located at the Central Waste Facility in Frogs Hollow, approximately 15km south of Bega in New South Wales. It was registered in February 2018 and is managed by the proponent, LGI Limited, under a long-term contract with the Bega Valley Shire Council. Because it is a point-source emissions capture project confined to a regional landfill footprint, a specific project area size is generally not applicable and is registered as an unknown area.

The region around the Bega Valley is predominantly rural and well-known for agricultural land uses such as dairying, beef cattle grazing, and general pasture. It experiences a moderate coastal climate with roughly 750–800 mm of annual rainfall in the lowland areas. The typical local soils are granitic and alluvial podzolics derived from the Bega Batholith rock formations.

Landfill gas projects are designed to capture and combust methane-rich gas that is naturally generated by decomposing organic matter in a landfill. Under the standard methodology requirements, the methane must be converted to carbon dioxide via flaring or electricity generation, significantly reducing its global warming potential. This specific project installs a new landfill gas collection system to capture and combust biogas generated from both legacy and non-legacy waste at the waste facility.

An interesting note is that there is no regulatory requirement for the Bega Valley Shire Council to capture biogas at this small regional landfill. However, by generating Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for abatement above its 30% baseline, the installation of a bespoke LGI 500 series ERF-compliant biogas flare became a commercially viable reality. The project also underwent a method variation on May 3, 2023, updating to the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Landfill Gas) Methodology Determination 2015 (Compilation No. 1).