Wollongong Landfill Gas Upgrade Project

Wollongong Landfill Gas Upgrade Project is a landfill gas capture and upgrade project located at the Whytes Gully Waste and Resource Recovery Centre, approximately 13km southwest of the Wollongong CBD in New South Wales. It was registered in March 2020 by LMS Energy Pty Ltd and is situated within a heavily modified engineered landfill environment.

Landfill gas projects operating under the Landfill Gas Methodology Determination 2015 involve the installation of gas wells and pipe networks to vacuum methane generated by decomposing organic waste. The captured gas is then combusted, via flaring or electricity generation, converting potent methane into less harmful carbon dioxide. As an "upgrade" project, this initiative specifically focuses on improving the efficiency of the existing gas collection system to capture emissions that would have otherwise escaped, often by installing additional horizontal or vertical wells and upgrading combustion technology to exceed historical capture rates.

The broader Illawarra region surrounding the site features a mix of heavy industry, residential development, and grazing lands along the escarpment foothills. The local area is characterised by a high-rainfall coastal climate, which inherently accelerates waste decomposition and gas generation. Natural soils in this escarpment area are typically clay and loam, though the project area itself consists of an engineered waste site.

The Whytes Gully facility processes approximately 80,000 tonnes of waste annually, capturing gas from both legacy and non-legacy waste to reduce its overall carbon footprint and contribute to renewable energy generation. In December 2023, the project varied its method to align with Compilation No. 1 of the 2015 methodology. The project also holds an active contract (CAC175258) with the Australian Government for the fixed delivery of 150,000 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).