Kilcoy Bioenergy Cogeneration Project

Kilcoy Bioenergy Cogeneration Project is an industrial wastewater treatment project located approximately 2km east of the township of Kilcoy in South East Queensland. Registered in June 2020, the project is situated at the Kilcoy Global Foods abattoir, a major beef processing facility on the D'Aguilar Highway. The surrounding Somerset Region is a hub for beef cattle grazing and agriculture, which supports the facility's operations.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Wastewater) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology incentivizes the capture and combustion of methane generated from the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in wastewater. Standard requirements involve replacing open, uncovered anaerobic lagoons, which release methane directly into the atmosphere, with closed systems such as Covered Anaerobic Lagoons (CALs) or engineered digesters. The captured biogas must be destroyed, typically through flaring or combustion for energy generation.

Environmentally, the Kilcoy region experiences a humid subtropical climate with a relatively high average rainfall compared to the interior of the state. The local landscape is characterized by rolling rises with soils that include dark light clays and brown light medium clays, often of alluvial or volcanic origin, which are fertile and capable of supporting intensive grazing.

Kilcoy Pastoral Company has integrated this project into a broader sustainability strategy, aiming for carbon neutrality. The project involved the installation of covered lagoons and a cogeneration plant capable of generating approximately 4MW of electricity. This allows the facility to utilize the captured methane as a renewable fuel source to power its operations and heat water, significantly reducing its reliance on the electricity grid and coal-fired boilers. In March 2025, the project updated its crediting method to the third compilation of the 2015 determination, ensuring alignment with the latest regulatory standards.