I recently interviewed employees at LGIA and take a good look at the amazing machines they use to convert landfill gas into electricity† Today was a chance to see the power station, which is powered by a methane dump, in operation in Queensland’s Dakabin. This municipal landfill is expected to produce enough gas to power at least two 1MW generators over 20 years, and LGI has the space to place a third.
Watch the explanatory video here†
David and Jarryd in front of the generator. Photo courtesy of Grace Tap.
Jarryd Doran was involved in every aspect of this power station, from its design to laying the foundations to now managing its operations. It’s the first he designed, and he and the LGI team designed and built 6 more. They are currently in the final construction phase of number 8 at Toowoomba in Queensland and in the front-end design phase of number 9 for Nowra in New South Wales. Although the power stations look the same from the outside, many improvements have been made in technology and behind the scenes.
Dakabin landfill power station drone shot. Photo courtesy of LGI.
One of the potential improvements is the planned inclusion of EV chargers for municipal vehicles when upgrading their fleet. These sites also have the potential for public EV chargers powered by solid, renewable energy to charge cars, such as Jarryd’s Tesla Model 3 Performance and CEO’s all-electric Mini.
In the future, LGI will be able to supply an EV with methane. Photo by David Waterworth | CleanTechnique.
I was amazed at the complexity of the task of converting landfill methane into renewable electricity. I learned about siloxanes, a substance commonly found in many of the cosmetics and deodorants we use every day that end up in landfills. LGI removes siloxanes in the landfill biogas to prevent it from reaching the engine. This prevents build-up in the engine, which would otherwise alter the compression and shorten the life of the generator. The main advantages are more operation and less maintenance, less lubrication oil needed and more energy generation. Most of the power generated is supplied to the local grid, with a parasitic load on the site of only 3.3%.
Jarryd tells me that the recovery of biogas from a landfill is a proven technology that has been used for decades. LGI has redesigned and optimized this technology to make it smarter and more economically productive. This allows LGI to provide this service to smaller and regional locations. He also discussed the dangers of drilling in a landfill, where you could move from organic waste to a car body within a few feet. LGI arranges this with its own custom drilling equipment.
LGI uses the latest technology to manage its power plants in all of its biogas operations. LGI’s operators can monitor the stations remotely via SCADA and Jarryd can even access it from the touchscreen in his Tesla (pictured at the top of this article). SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is a category of software applications for industrial process control, remote and real-time data collection. This is supported by the fact that some of LGI’s regional channels are connected via Starlink. “This has helped improve the reliability of the data connection to the site and ultimately our ability to adapt the generator’s operation to the energy market.” The Benaraby site is a good example.
Grace is doing an internship at LGI as part of her university degree in Architecture and Construction Management. I asked her why she wanted to get into landfill biogas and LGI extraction. Her answer was quite surprising. She said she enjoys the challenge of multiple problem-solving tasks – “more complicated than solar!”
LGI has taken delivery of its first Tesla Megapack battery (1.3 MW/2.6 MWh), with plans to install it at an existing biogas-to-electricity site in Queensland by the third quarter of this year. “This will be an Australian first that combines biogas-fired electricity generation with the rapid response and flexibility of a battery.” Watch the video about the impact of renewable energy on the grid here†
Tesla Megapack delivered to LGI Brisbane. Photo courtesy of LGI.
LGI offers economically viable high-tech solutions to the age-old problem of what to do with our waste. Saving the planet one landfill at a time.
Featured photo by Jarryd Doran.
Do you appreciate CleanTechnica’s originality and cleantech news coverage? Consider becoming one CleanTechnica member, supporter, technician or ambassador — or a patron on Patreon†
