THE council is a step closer to becoming powered by gas captured at the city's main tip.
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For the last three years, Tamworth Regional Council has been mining methane produced by decaying waste at the Forest Road tip and now it is looking to ink a 20-year deal with a private company to keep the power project alive.
In a closed meeting, councillors voted in favour of seeking tenders for the gas project from two companies: Intelligas and LMS Energy.
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The former specialises in landfill gas extraction and conversion to energy while the latter claims it is the largest landfill gas energy provider in Australia, producing about 53 megawatts of power across 21 sites.
The motion supported by the council also invited a tender from "Bortome Australia" in recognition of its "newly formed relationship with the UNSW and the potential partnership with council in developing an integrated and environmentally sustainable energy solution".
The companies will be asked to prepare tenders for "the beneficial reuse of landfill gas from Forest Road Waste Management Facility for a 20-year period with an option to extend for up to a maximum of an additional 20 years."
The council opened expressions on interest in late-2018.
It appears the project will be developed to provide "renewable energy for council operations".
Previous council-led explorations of the tip uncovered a methane supply big enough to power 800 households and with hopes more drilling would uncover even more power.
The council has signalled it wanted the energy project to begin at the tip by June this year.