Toowoomba Waste Management Centre - Landfill Gas Project - 2019

Toowoomba Waste Management Centre - Landfill Gas Project - 2019 is a landfill gas and electricity generation project located at Cranley, on the north-western outskirts of Toowoomba in Queensland. It was registered in January 2020 and is managed by proponent LGI Limited. The project is situated at the local council waste management facility on Hermitage Road. The surrounding Eastern Darling Downs region is widely known for winter and summer grain cropping, as well as extensive grazing operations.

Landfill gas electricity generation projects involve the installation of a collection system to capture methane gas emitted by decomposing legacy and non-legacy organic waste. Under this methodology, the captured biogas is combusted through gas-fired engines to generate electricity, preventing potent greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere and displacing grid fossil fuels with renewable power.

The Toowoomba and Eastern Darling Downs region experiences a sub-tropical climate with summer-dominant rainfall, historically receiving upwards of 900mm of rain annually. The local environment is characterised by highly fertile soils, predominantly deep black cracking clays known as Vertosols, alongside red volcanic soils (Ferrosols) rich in iron oxide.

Initially registered as a standard gas flaring project by the Toowoomba Regional Council, it transitioned to LGI Limited in 2020 and was eventually upgraded to feature a 1-megawatt gas-fired power station. To account for this, the project method was officially varied in May 2023 to the Electricity Generation determination. This innovative installation is the first of its kind in Queensland and now supplies up to 100% of the electricity required to run the council's nearby Wetalla Water Reclamation Facility. Delivered in close partnership, the power station saves the council an estimated $600,000 annually in electricity costs, whilst also providing long-term revenue through Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and electricity royalties.