Oaky Creek 1 Waste Coal Mine Gas Power Station

Oaky Creek 1 Waste Coal Mine Gas Power Station is a Coal Mine Waste Gas project located at the Oaky Creek Coal Mine in the Bowen Basin, approximately 16km southeast of the mining town of Tieri and 45km northwest of Middlemount in Central Queensland. Registered on December 22, 2021, the project operates within a heavy industrial mining zone surrounded by a broader region primarily utilised for cattle grazing and agriculture.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Coal Mine Waste Gas) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology credits the destruction of fugitive methane emissions from underground coal mines, which are otherwise vented into the atmosphere for safety. By capturing this gas and using it to power electricity generators, the project converts methane (a potent greenhouse gas) into carbon dioxide (a less potent gas) and generates electricity that displaces carbon-intensive power from the grid.

The Bowen Basin region is characterized by a semi-arid to sub-tropical climate with summer-dominant rainfall, averaging approximately 600mm to 700mm annually. The landscape typically features cracking clay soils (Vertosols), which are common in the Brigalow Belt bioregion.

A notable aspect of this project is its status as a "transitioning" activity. The 21MW power station was originally commissioned in 2006 and previously generated revenue through the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme. Following a 2021 variation to the methodology, legacy projects like Oaky Creek 1 were permitted to transition to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme for a limited five-year crediting period to encourage continued abatement operation. The facility is owned and operated by EDL (Energy Developments Limited) utilizing gas supplied by Glencore’s underground mining operations.