EPA Victoria has granted a works approval for a second biogas facility at Melbourne Regional Landfill.
The landfill – owned and operated by Cleanaway Waste Management subsidiary Landfill Operations – currently receives over one million tonnes of waste per annum and includes a substantial Gas Collection and Control System.
The new facility will double the site’s capacity to destroy captured landfill gas generated by the decomposition of waste within the landfill, by burning it to generate approximately 68,000 megawatt hours of electricity each year.
The proposed facility, which will see the installation of eight 1.15 megawatt biogas engines, is a mirror of the existing facility that has been operating since 2006.
According to an EPA statement, the destruction of landfill gas in the proposed facility will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 220,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year at full capacity.
In addition to standard environmental requirements, the works approval specifies minimum exhaust stack heights and requires one of the eight new electricity generators to be fitted with a device that measures and records the destruction of methane gas and the resulting emissions.
The new power station will be located 25 metres to the east of the existing facility, close to the grid connection and existing landfill gas infrastructure and maintenance areas.
The project was endorsed by the City of Melton in February, with no public submissions made during the works approval comment period.
Related stories:
- WtE facility to inject green gas into VIC network
- Cleanaway to double renewable power generation for Melbourne
- Cleanaway VIC landfill extension application ticks on