MRL Landfill Gas Upgrade Project

MRL Landfill Gas Upgrade Project is a waste sector project located at the Melbourne Regional Landfill in Ravenhall, approximately 20km west of Melbourne's central business district. Registered in March 2023, the project is operated by Landfill Operations Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the major waste management company Cleanaway. The project site is situated within a significant industrial and quarrying precinct on the urban fringe, utilizing a large void originally created by basalt quarrying operations.

The project operates under the Electricity Generation from Landfill Gas methodology (2021). This framework incentivises the upgrade of existing landfill gas collection systems to capture and combust methane that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas generated by the decomposition of organic waste. By capturing this gas and feeding it into biogas generators, the project not only destroys the methane but also generates renewable electricity, displacing fossil-fuel-based power from the grid.

Environmentally, the Ravenhall region sits on the Western Volcanic Plains, an area distinct from the leafier eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The landscape is defined by flat, basaltic terrain with heavy clay soils that are prone to cracking. The local climate is comparatively dry, lying in a rain shadow that results in lower annual rainfall than the city's east. These conditions, combined with the site's industrial nature, make effective gas and leachate management critical to preventing environmental contamination in the surrounding growing residential corridors.

The "Upgrade" designation in the project title refers to significant infrastructure improvements undertaken to boost the site's capture efficiency. Cleanaway has invested in expanding the gas field infrastructure, including the installation of new vertical extraction wells and the doubling of the biogas power station's capacity. Reports indicate the site's generation capacity was expanded to power over 13,000 homes annually. The landfill itself is a critical piece of Victoria's waste infrastructure, accepting a wide range of waste streams including municipal, commercial, and construction waste.