Appin and Tower

EDL has pioneered the collection and combustion of waste coal mine gas (WCMG), an environmentally damaging greenhouse gas (GHG), at our 85MW Appin and Tower Power Stations.

At a glance

  • Project name:

    Appin and Tower Power Stations

  • Owner, operator:

    EDL

  • Start of operation:

    1996

  • Location:

    Appin, New South Wales, Australia

  • Generating capacity:
    36 MW
  • Primary fuel:

    WCMG

  • Abated and avoided emissions:

    2 million tonnes CO2–e p.a.

  • Electricity generated:

    654GWh

  • Equivalent cars off the road:

    500,000 p.a.

  • Equivalent homes powered:

    60,000 p.a.

About the Appin and Tower Power Stations

In a world first, EDL developed the largest WCMG power station at Appin that captured drained WCMG and also directly used a portion of the methane present as combustion air in the generator sets, further reducing the mine’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

WCMG is a naturally occurring gas that is often released in large amounts during coal mining. Fugitive emissions from coal mines account for about 5% of Australia’s GHG emissions. Further, these gases pose a major safety hazard in underground mines.

At South32 Illawarra Coal’s Appin and Tower mines located at the Southern Coal fields in NSW, EDL is applying our expertise in low calorific fuels to capture and combust WCMG, which is 25 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide.

The power stations are capable of generating approximately 654 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity annually, which is enough to power approximately 60,000 homes.