McRobies Gully Landfill Gas Upgrade Project

McRobies Gully Landfill Gas Upgrade Project is a landfill gas and electricity generation project located at the McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre in South Hobart, approximately 3km west of the Hobart city centre in Tasmania. It was registered in July 2022 and its exact project area encompasses the active and legacy footprint of the existing municipal landfill.

Electricity generation from landfill gas projects involve installing infrastructure to capture and combust methane-rich biogas generated by decomposing organic waste. The captured methane is not only destroyed but is used as a base-load fuel source to generate renewable electricity.

The region surrounding South Hobart is situated in the forested foothills of Mount Wellington and is known for a mix of native bushland, urban residential development, and municipal waste management. The area experiences a temperate maritime climate with moderate rainfall, and soils generally consist of podzolic soils overlaying mudstone and sandstone bedrock.

This project was set up by LMS Energy in partnership with the local council to upgrade an existing collection system, capturing and combusting gas from both legacy and non-legacy waste. Interestingly, the facility, locally known as "The Tip", sits just above the Hobart Rivulet. To complement local environmental efforts, a gross pollutant trap was recently installed below the site to prevent escaped litter from harming aquatic life, specifically to protect the native platypus populations from entanglement.