Ergon Energy has connected a 1MVA export generator to the grid using gas from an old landfill site at Maryborough, Queensland.
The power produced from the Maryborough landfill site will enter the network on the Neptune Street feeder line, which means it will initially provide power for around 300 customers in central Maryborough suburbs.
Landfill Gas Industries was selected by Fraser Coast Regional Council to operate the Maryborough site, which features a single 1MVA gas generator with plans to add a second 1MVA generator in the future – enough to power 600 homes locally and in other areas of Maryborough.
It is believed the site has enough gas to provide power for more than 20 years at a level equivalent to a solar project consisting of in excess of 10,000 photovoltaic panels.
Ergon acting chief executive Roslyn Baker said the business encouraged the use of the network to facilitate the transfer of renewable energy from generation sites to customers.
“Whether it’s a major solar or wind farm, a co-generation plant at a sugar mill, a biomass project, a landfill gas project such as this one, or just a few solar panels on a family roof feeding excess power back into the grid, this is the way of the future,” Ms Baker said.
“It fits in perfectly with our vision for the network as a platform that gives customers choice and control over their electricity use, including the ability to use renewable energy.”
Ms Baker said this was part of an exciting new trend where local councils were looking to extract landfill gas, resulting from decaying organic compounds buried underground, to produce a renewable energy source.
The councils could then put the green credits earned from the projects towards offsetting their carbon footprint.
