France-headed landfill gas (LFG) to biomethane technology provider Waga Energy SA has announced that it has been enlisted by The Mauricie Residual Materials Management Board (RGMRM) to deploy its innovative LFG upgrading solution at the Saint-Étienne-des-Grès landfill, in Québec, Canada. The renewable natural gas (RNG) produced will be purchased by Énergir L.P, the largest gas distribution company in the province, and injected into its gas grid onsite.
This LFG-to-RNG project will be the first in Canada to use Waga Energy’s “WAGABOX” technology, developed by Waga Energy to recover and upgrade LFG into pipeline quality biomethane.
Under the agreement signed in March, Waga Energy will buy the LFG from RGMRM, the municipal body bringing together the MRC des Chenaux, Maskinongé, and Mékinac, as well as the cities of Shawinigan and Trois-Rivières, for a period of at least 20 years. It will then be transformed into grid-compliant RNG by a WAGABOX gas treatment unit built onsite.
Waga Energy will generate income by selling its RNG production to Énergir. Until now, the LFG at Saint-Étienne-des-Grès was captured and flared.
This contract is the result of an initiative undertaken several months ago to identify the best technology to enable us to use our landfill gas to its full potential. Thanks to the WAGABOX technology, treating our gas is no longer an expense, it is a new income stream, and more importantly, it is yet another step towards a more sustainable approach to landfill management. The project fits perfectly with the government’s greenhouse gas reduction objectives and we are proud to contribute to Québec’s energy transition, said Michel Angers, President of RGMRM.
Local production
Designed to process 3 400 Nm3 per hour ( 2 000 scfm) of LFG, the WAGABOX unit in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès will produce 130 GWh (444,000 mmBtus or 468 000 GJ) of RNG per annum, corresponding to the annual consumption of 8 000 local households.
The WAGABOX unit will be built in Shawinigan by a local company under the supervision of Waga Energy’s Canadian subsidiary, except for the cryogenic distillation module which will be imported from France. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2022.
Thanks to the WAGABOX solution, hundreds of landfill sites across the United States and Canada will be able to produce renewable natural gas, contribute to the energy transition, and generate a new revenue stream, without the need for investment, and free from additional operating constraints, said Mathieu Lefebvre, President and Co-Founder of Waga Energy
The project carried out jointly by RGMRM and Waga Energy will improve the environmental record of Mauricie and will contribute to Québec’s energy transition. It will prevent the release of 23 000 tonnes of fossil CO2 annually by substituting fossil gas with RNG.
The development of the green gas industry in Quebec is one of the cornerstones of our efforts to decarbonize our economy. Énergir aims to inject an ever-increasing amount of renewable gas into its network, corresponding to a volume of at least 10 percent that of the annual volume it distributes by 2030. This fantastic project brings us a step closer to this objective, demonstrates the value of the smart circular economy, and allows more and more of our customers to benefit from clean and local energy, said Renault Lortie, VP Customers and Gas Supply at Énergir.
