Oaky Creek 3 Coal Mine Waste Gas Power Station

Oaky Creek 3 Coal Mine Waste Gas Power Station is a fugitive emissions reduction project located approximately 15km west of the town of Tieri in the Bowen Basin region of Central Queensland. Registered on March 28, 2025, just days prior to the expiration of the Coal Mine Waste Gas methodology, this project represents a strategic expansion of EDL’s existing waste gas utilization infrastructure at the site. The project area is situated within the active mining lease of Glencore's Oaky Creek Coal Mine, surrounded by a region heavily characterized by open-cut and underground coal mining operations interspersed with cattle grazing on cleared Brigalow scrub land.

The project operates under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Coal Mine Waste Gas) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology credits the capture and destruction of methane from coal seams that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere as a fugitive emission. Specifically, this project is a displacement electricity production activity, meaning the captured gas is combusted in gas engines to generate electricity, thereby displacing the need for electricity from the grid which is typically more carbon-intensive.

Environmentally, the Tieri and Middlemount region experiences a sub-tropical to semi-arid climate with rainfall heavily weighted towards the summer months. The local terrain typically features extensive cracking clay soils (Vertosols), which are fertile but prone to significant shrinking and swelling, alongside loamy red earths common to the Central Highlands.

An interesting note regarding this project is its timing; it was registered only three days before the Coal Mine Waste Gas method permanently closed to new entrants on March 31, 2025. This project likely serves as an addition to EDL’s established "Bowen Basin Hub," which includes the previously commissioned Oaky Creek 1 (21MW) and Oaky Creek 2 (15MW) power stations, further utilizing the high-quality methane byproduct from the underground mining operations to power the mine and feed into the local network.