Eastern Creek Landfill Gas Project

Grid-connected, renewable distributed generation
Location: Eartern Creek, NSW

Fuel source and supply

The Eastern Creek project is located in Sydney's west at the Eastern Creek Waste Management Centre, owned by Waste Service NSW. The plant utilises landfill gas extracted from the landfill site, which is supplied to the generator through a pipeline network. Landfill gas is a designated renewable energy source that is derived through anaerobic decomposition of organic waste matter.

Eastern Creek Waste Management Centre commenced operations in 1984. The current landfill area is expected to be completed by the end of June this year. The landfill site is expected to provide gas for the electricity project for approximately 25 years.

Plant equipment and operation

The plant predominantly operates 24 hours a day subject to the availability of the landfill gas resource.

The project will be powered by two 1.25 MW 620v16k Deutz engines.

Energy purchase and supply

Power is generated at 415 volts and stepped up to 11,000 volts for connection to Integral Energy's 11 kV local distribution network. Future plant expansion is under evaluation for connection at 33 kV. The plant is a renewable generator under the Renewable Energy (Electricity)Act and is eligible to produce Renewable Energy Certificates (REC). The power and RECs produced by the plant are sold to Ergon Energy under a long-term agreement.

Environmental impact

Landfill gas, which is primarily a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, has a typical global warming potential about eight times that of carbon dioxide. Capturing what would otherwise be a fugitive emission and converting it to electricity results in greenhouse emission reductions of approximately 80,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

In addition, another local environmental benefit is the reduction in odours from the landfill site.