Barwon Bioenergy Forum 10th June 2026

On 10 June 2026, the Victorian Bioenergy Network convened the Barwon Bioenergy Forum at Waurn Ponds Estate, Deakin University — bringing together more than 90 participants from across Victoria’s bioenergy value chain for a full day of presentations and discussion. Twelve sessions covered the full spectrum: water utility circular economy strategy, on-farm biogas CHP, biomethane upgrading and e-methane, renewable liquid fuels, certification, project financing, and international export pathways.

Opening: From Movement to Market

VBN’s Ragini Prasad opened by framing the moment. The question for the sector is no longer whether bioenergy matters — it is how we make it work at scale. Three policy signals are shaping that question right now: Victoria’s Renewable Gas Directions Paper, the VEU industrial heat decarbonisation pathway, and the NSW Renewable Fuel Scheme. The critical alignment opportunity: recognise renewable gas certificates within VEU industrial heat pathways, so businesses can retire credible certificates while producers receive the signal to build supply. The goal is not one heroic project — it is a repeatable pathway that makes each successive project easier than the last.

The Stakes: Industry’s View of the Energy Transition

Amelia Bitsis of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry opened with a pointed reminder of what is at stake. Qenos — Australia’s last polyethylene manufacturer — closed its Geelong facility two years ago. Incitec Pivot closed its Geelong fertiliser plant at the end of last year, shifting to a full import model. These are not marginal businesses: they are major employers embedded in regional supply chains and export value chains, and their closures leave Australia more exposed to supply shocks that make shortages of fertiliser, packaging, and industrial materials a national security issue.

On biomethane demand, Bitsis offered the sharpest framing of the day. The barrier is not the resource and not the technology — the people in this room have solved that. The barrier is demand. The fastest demand lever available is consumer choice: give every household and business the right to choose certified biomethane through the gas connection they already have, and back that choice the way the small-scale technology certificate backed rooftop solar. The network is already in the ground, connected to more than 2 million households and businesses. Within two decades solar went from curiosity to world-leading household uptake. Biomethane can move faster — there is nothing to install.

Project Development: What It Actually Takes

LMS Energy’s Jarrod Irving drew on experience across landfill, agricultural, and wastewater RNG projects to offer a candid account of the sector’s real constraints. Technology is not the bottleneck — every early RNG project in Australia is a bespoke commercial deal, and contracting consistently takes longer than the engineering. Stage development works: neither Casino nor Wasleys would have proceeded as all-in builds. Invest in FEED early, bring commercial advisors and network counterparties in at feasibility not at FEED, and start small on feedstock aggregation. LMS has approximately 4 PJ of RNG supply in FEED or FEED-ready state. The FID gate is commercial, not technical.

Veolia’s Julian Howard reinforced the same point from a regional AD perspective. Getting five commercial variables right simultaneously — secure feedstock, competitive gate fees, energy revenue, a digestate strategy, and grant funding — is what separates a viable project from a stalled one. No single revenue stream makes the project on its own. Developers who underestimate any one of them will find themselves stranded at FID.

The Water Sector: Bioenergy’s Most Important Near-Term Partner

Barwon Water’s David Snadden presented a circular economy vision that has moved well beyond water delivery: biogas, sewer heat recovery, biochar research, recycled water for Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery and hydrogen hub. The headline initiative was the launch of Barwon’s wastewater heat recovery demonstrator at Breakwater, Geelong — with a Geelong-wide heat map now published and 17+ potential industrial clients identified. Barwon is commercialising this as “Heat-as-a-Service”: contracted outcomes, stable temperatures that outperform air-source heat pumps, VEEC generation, and potential surplus energy revenue for clients who defer major gas infrastructure upgrades.

Yarra Valley Water’s Stephanie Salinas presented a complementary picture. The Victorian water sector accounts for more than 25% of Victorian Government greenhouse gas emissions, with methane from wastewater treatment the dominant source at 72%. YVW’s Net Zero 2025 journey — from solar through to biogas co-digestion (Food Waste to Energy stage 2 commissioned in 2025) and 100% renewable electricity — demonstrates what is achievable. Water corporations have the feedstock, the infrastructure, the energy load, and the regulatory obligation to lead. The sector is on track for net zero by 2035. The message for the bioenergy industry: water utilities are natural development partners, not just potential customers.

Case Study: Saputo Dairy Allansford

Ross Milne presented the Allansford CHP project as a replicable template for Victoria’s dairy sector. The site was producing 260 GJ/day of biogas and flaring all of it — while spending $694K/year importing natural gas to heat the same reactor. The unlock was repurposing idle Capstone C1000 microturbines from another Saputo site. Result: 2 MW CHP capacity, 11,275 tonnes CO₂e abated per year, 18% of site grid electricity displaced, and $694K in gas costs eliminated — supported by $1 million in Sustainability Victoria grant funding. H₂S and siloxane — the two quality risks that have historically stopped dairy biogas projects — are both solved. Victoria’s dairy processing sector has multiple sites with anaerobic digesters currently flaring. The Allansford project directly de-risks all of them.

Technology Frontier: E-Methane and the CO₂ Value Opportunity

Verbrec’s Erik van den Berg and Fred Zamiri made the case that gas infrastructure is a platform for certified renewable molecules, not a stranded asset. The separated biogenic CO₂ stream from biomethane upgrading is a second value product — four utilisation routes were mapped: direct industrial use, food-grade liquefaction, mineralisation, and e-methanation. Define the gas quality first, then choose the route that clears the site-specific gates. Their Verbrec/UQ single-reactor e-methane approach targets approximately 55% lower electrical load versus conventional routes, materially widening the feasibility window. Technology is approaching proof-of-concept completion with a government-funded pilot in collaboration with a Japanese partner as the next step.

Renewable Liquid Fuels: Victoria’s Natural Advantage

GrainCorp’s Filip Janakievski reframed the feedstock conversation: GrainCorp is not selling oil to be converted into fuel — they are selling certified carbon intensity. Victoria produces approximately 1.1 Mt of canola, 90–110 kt of tallow, 1.6 Mt of wheat straw, and 5.5 Mt of forestry residues annually. GrainCorp, Ampol, and IFM Investors are partnering on the Brisbane Renewable Fuels facility — 1 million+ tonnes per year, targeting 2030 production, $3 billion+ estimated investment.

CSIRO’s Max Temminghoff put the federal policy context on the table. Australia’s jet fuel demand is projected to grow 75% by 2050, with 85% of liquid fuel currently imported. The $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program, $250 million Future Made in Australia innovation fund, and a demand-side mechanism in design represent genuine federal support. HAMR Energy’s Portland Renewable Fuels project — 300,000 t/yr low-carbon methanol from forestry residues, $10M Series A closed February 2026 backed by Qantas, Airbus, and thyssenkrupp Uhde — is Victoria’s flagship. The same feedstocks and pathways produce renewable diesel, low-carbon methanol for shipping, and renewable chemicals. Victoria should be thinking about the full opportunity, not just jet fuel.

Certification: The Market Infrastructure the Sector Needs

GreenPower’s Jack Shepherd presented the Renewable Gas Guarantee of Origin (RGGO) — a voluntary book-and-claim tradable certificate covering biomethane, biogas, e-methane, and renewable hydrogen, enabling Scope 1 emissions reductions within NGERS. The Delorean SA1 Salisbury project is GreenPower’s first renewable gas accreditation: 180 TJ capacity, 70,000 t/yr C&I food waste feedstock, ~10,000 tCO₂e/yr abatement, Origin Energy as RGGO offtaker, first injection expected November 2026. GreenPower is now developing Low Carbon Liquid Fuels and Biogenic CO₂ certification schemes — both launching 2028. Contact: greenpower.lclf@dcceew.nsw.gov.au

Project Financing: What Lenders Actually Need

EnergyLink Services’ Matthew Thomas was the most commercially granular presenter of the day. Biomethane production costs exceed the market gas price — the gap is closed by stacking environmental certificates. In NSW, stacked revenue (ACCUs, RGGOs, NSW Renewable Fuel Scheme from 2028) can reach approximately $23/GJ. Certificate stacking can contribute 20–40% of total project revenue. Around 50% of a well-structured project’s revenue can be made bankable today through long-term offtake and CO₂ contracts. Match your financing structure to your revenue profile, de-risk cash flows early, and structure financing before you need it. A financed project at imperfect terms beats a perfectly designed project that never reaches FID.

International Pathways: The Australia–Japan Opportunity

Real Assets Advisory & Finance’s Peter Knight closed the day with the export picture. Australia has one operational biomethane plant producing less than 0.1 PJ/year — against Europe’s 1,600–1,700 plants (180–190 PJ/year). Yet Australia holds 2,600 PJ/year of feedstock potential. Japanese energy companies — Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas, JERA, Sojitz, Nippon Gases — are actively building biomethane positions globally. Osaka Gas has already taken a stake in Australian developer Optimal Renewable Gas. Japan’s GX surcharge on fossil fuel imports from 2028 could be the trigger that makes BioLNG from Australia commercially compelling. The barriers are addressable — but Japanese investors are waiting for domestic demand signals before deploying capital here.

What the Day Told Us

Across twelve presentations the same signal came through consistently: the resource is here, the technology works, the projects are ready. The constraint is demand — and the policy lever to unlock it is closer and simpler than many assume. The network is already in the ground. Give consumers the right to choose certified renewable gas, back it the way solar policy backed rooftop solar, and the industry will build itself. Victoria has the opportunity to lead that signal nationally.

Download the Full Takeaways Document

A full session-by-session takeaways document from the Barwon Bioenergy Forum is available to VBN members. Join VBN or contact us to request access.

Stay Connected

To learn more about VBN membership, upcoming events, or our policy advocacy sign up to our newsletter, follow us on Linkedin or join us in the bioenergy mission.