Bathurst green energy power station to go ahead

Transpacific Industries Group (Transpacific) in association with Country Energy and the Bathurst Regional Council have announced the start of construction on a "green energy' (landfill gas fired) power station at Bathurst Waste Management Facility in Bathurst, NSW.

Transpacific will build, own and operate the facility under an agreement with owners of the site, Bathurst Regional Council. Energy utility Country Energy is sponsoring the project, entering into a long-term power and emissions reduction off-take agreement with Transpacific.

The project utilises an innovative technology for assessment of the gas resource at the landfill, and this technology can also be applied to other medium-size rural communities. The initial work involves construction of a landfill gas recovery system and flaring the extended gas, a greenhouse emission friendly process that utilises methane that is produced from decomposition of the organic wastes in the landfill.

The recovery system will be operated for approximately six months to allow the quality and quantity of the gas resource to be monitored. Estimates are that the gas field will produce enough gas to generate 4200 megawatt hours per annum, which is equivalent to powering 500 homes in the local area. These figures mean that the power station could save around 20,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas each year.