Biomethane hub set to add to Tasmania gas grid

The rural town of Westbury in Tasmania, Australia is to be the location for a AU$50m renewable gas facility.

The Westbury BioHub, being developed by Optimal Group and Solstice Energy, is slated to process around 36,000 tonnes of agri-food and other organic waste into biomethane that will be injected into the gas grid.

According to Optimal Renewable Gas (ORG), a subsidiary of Optimal Group, the facility will produce 376,000 gigajoules of biomethane per year and reduce emissions by 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year from hard-to-abate sectors like industrial heat.

ORG said that it could start supplying biomethane by early 2026 but has also said it expects to properly begin commercial operations in the first quarter of 2027.

“[The project] will enable organic waste within 200km of the Westbury industrial area to be converted into renewable energy and organic fertiliser, creating a circular economy system that will benefit local communities and deliver significant outcomes for Tasmania,” said the company.

The project, which is currently moving through front-end engineering and design, uses a “plug-in” anaerobic digestion solution to process the organic waste streams. It will also use existing gas infrastructure to improve the intermittency of small-scale “behind-the-metre” investments from individual businesses.

The Malabar Biomethane Injection Plant in Sydney. ©Jimena

Australia mapped out its plan to increase biomethane output in its 2024 Future Gas Strategy. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) stated in its bioenergy roadmap that biomethane could supply between 9% and 33% of Australia’s gas demand by 2050.

Another project being developed in the country is the Malabar Biomethane Injection Plant. Located in Sydney, the project converts excess biogas from wastewater treatment into renewable biomethane for injection into the New South Wales gas network.

A separate recently announced government-backed project will see brick manufacturer Austral Bricks transition its operations in Horsley Park, Western Sydney, from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

The AU$81.4m bioenergy facility will use up to 150,000 tonnes of landfill waste to produce biogas which will generate electricity and heat for the facility and to fire brick manufacturing kilns.

“Bioenergy offers a dependable and renewable alternative to fossil fuels, playing a vital role in the circular economy by transforming waste into valuable energy resources,” said Paul Scully, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces.