German Creek

EDL owns and operates the 38.3 MW German Creek Power Station, which captures and combusts waste coal mine gas and converts it to electricity for the national electricity market.

At a glance

  • Project name:

    German Creek

  • Owner, operator:

    EDL

  • Start of operation:

    2006

  • Location:

    Middlemount, Queensland, Australia

  • Generating capacity:
    38 MW
  • Primary fuel:

    Waste Coal Mine Gas

About the WCMG power station

EDL pioneered the process of capturing and converting waste coal mine gas (WCMG) generated during coal mining in Australia.

WCMG is produced during coal mining as methane gas trapped in coal seams is released. As this product can be a safety hazard and a challenge to mining operations, it is extracted by mine ventilation and coal seam drainage.

Historically a waste product that is vented or flared, the extracted methane is used by EDL as a power generation fuel—displacing grid electricity and delivering reliable, and affordable energy which significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

The power station consists of sixteen 2MW power generation modules using Caterpillar 3520C generator sets and four 3.3MW power generating modules using Jenbacher J620 generator sets.