Whittingham Biogas Project

The Whittingham Biogas Project is an industrial wastewater treatment project located in Whittingham, approximately 8 kilometers southeast of the major town of Singleton in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. Registered in March 2025, the project is situated within the operational bounds of the EC Throsby beef processing facility. The surrounding Whittingham area is a mix of heavy industrial land use, including rail loops and coal loading infrastructure, and agricultural grazing land typical of the Hunter region.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative-Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Wastewater) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology credits the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions achieved by capturing methane generated during the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in wastewater. Standard requirements for this project type involve replacing or modifying open anaerobic lagoons, which historically allowed methane to vent into the atmosphere, with engineered anaerobic digesters that capture the gas.

Environmentally, the Singleton region experiences a warm temperate climate with moderate rainfall, averaging around 650–700mm annually. The soils in this part of the Hunter Valley are typically loams and clays derived from alluvial processes near the Hunter River.

A key feature of this project is its integration into the meat processing supply chain. The proponent, Usinch Pty Limited, trades as EC Throsby, a well-established Australian beef processor. The project activities involve capturing biogas from the abattoir's wastewater streams and combusting it in a boiler. This process not only mitigates powerful methane emissions but also creates a renewable heat source for the facility, reducing its reliance on grid energy or fossil fuels for hot water and steam generation.