Toowoomba Waste Management Centre - Landfill Gas Project - 2019

Toowoomba Waste Management Centre - Landfill Gas Project - 2019 is an electricity generation from landfill gas projects located at Cranley, approximately 6km northwest of the Toowoomba CBD in Queensland. It was registered in January 2020 and covers an undefined area, as it operates directly within the footprint of the existing waste management facility.

Electricity generation from landfill gas projects involve installing a network of pipes and wells to capture methane biogas generated by decomposing organic waste. The standard requirements dictate that this captured gas must be combusted through a flare or generator to destroy the methane and produce renewable electricity, generating carbon abatement for emissions reductions achieved above a standard regulatory baseline.

The Toowoomba and wider Darling Downs region is heavily utilised for agriculture, known for widespread cattle grazing, cotton farming, and winter grain cropping. The area experiences moderate to high rainfall for the region, and local soils are predominantly characterised by highly fertile cracking clays (Vertosols) and volcanic basalt-derived soils (Ferrosols).

This project was initially established as a flaring operation under the Toowoomba Regional Council before being transferred to LGI Limited. In an innovative 2022 upgrade, LGI installed a 1-megawatt gas-fired power station to generate renewable, dispatchable power behind the meter. The renewable electricity generated by the facility now supplies up to 100% of the power needed to run the council's nearby Wetalla Water Reclamation Facility. This circular economy solution saves the council an estimated $600,000 annually in electricity costs while generating additional revenue from Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and electricity royalties.