Mugga Lane Landfill Gas Upgrade Project

Mugga Lane Landfill Gas Upgrade Project is an electricity generation from landfill gas project located at the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre in Symonston, approximately 10km south of the Canberra CBD in the Australian Capital Territory. It was registered in June 2020 and covers the waste cells of the existing ACT landfill site.

Electricity generation from landfill gas projects involve capturing and combusting methane, a potent greenhouse gas emitted by decomposing organic waste, to generate renewable electricity. To earn carbon credits, standard methodology requirements dictate that proponents must install a new gas collection system or upgrade an existing one to capture gas at rates beyond standard regulatory baselines, ultimately destroying the methane and displacing fossil-fuel grid power.

The peri-urban Symonston area serves primarily as a light industrial and rural buffer zone, heavily utilised for the territory's major waste management and resource recovery operations. The Canberra region typically experiences a temperate climate with relatively even rainfall year-round, averaging roughly 600mm annually. Local soils in this area are characterised by heavy, clay-based Kurosols and Chromosols, alongside shallow rocky profiles on the slopes.

This project was established to upgrade an existing landfill gas collection system to capture gas from both legacy and non-legacy waste. In May 2023, the project transitioned from the older 2015 Landfill Gas methodology to the updated 2021 Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas determination to better align with its power-generation activities. The project proponent, LGI Limited, has expanded the site's capabilities significantly since its inception. In 2024, the site's power station was expanded from 4-megawatts to 6-megawatts with a 20-megawatt grid connection, allowing the project to power over 10,800 local Canberra homes. The facility is also undergoing further upgrades to integrate a 12-megawatt Tesla battery energy storage system (BESS), creating a dispatchable renewable energy hub that helps stabilise the local electricity grid.