Shoalhaven LFG Upgrade Project

Shoalhaven LFG Upgrade Project is a landfill gas capture and electricity generation project located at the West Nowra Recycling and Waste Facility, approximately 4.5km west of the major town of Nowra in New South Wales. It was registered in December 2020 and operates within the footprint of the 65-hectare waste facility site.

Electricity generation from landfill gas projects involve upgrading or installing collection systems to capture methane-rich biogas emitted by decomposing organic waste. This captured gas is then combusted to generate renewable electricity, permanently destroying the potent methane (converting it to carbon dioxide) while displacing the need for fossil-fuel-derived grid power.

The region surrounding Nowra is known for semi-rural properties, remnant bushland, dairy farming, and livestock grazing. The area generally experiences a temperate coastal climate with moderate to high rainfall. Soils in the local Shoalhaven and Coolongatta landscapes are typically weakly structured and strongly acidic, featuring coastal sandy loams and fluvial clay soils.

This project was originally run by the Shoalhaven City Council, but the participant name was transferred to the specialist renewable energy company LGI Limited in March 2021. The partnership between the council and LGI has been highly impactful; by early 2023, the biogas facility had successfully reduced the council's greenhouse gas emissions by over 100,000 tonnes of CO2e, effectively converting legacy waste into a dispatchable renewable energy source for the region.