Can Mata site prepares for upcoming arrival of WAGABOX® unit
September 2022 The earthmoving machines are springing into action at the PreZero group’s Can Mata landfill in Els Hostalets de Pierola, around 50 kilometers from Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Waga Energy’s Spanish team and its subcontractors have begun the construction of the 800-square-meter concrete slab on which the first WAGABOX® unit in Spain will soon be built.
This new biomethane production unit is currently being assembled in France’s Grenoble region. In a few weeks’ time, the membrane filtration module, the cryogenic distillation module, and the other component elements of this 50-metric-ton refinery will be shipped to the Can Mata site in eight special convoy trucks. Once they get there, they will be assembled and connected by around a hundred meters of pipelines. The unit will then be connected to the PreZero biogas capture system and to the natural gas distribution pipelines run by Spanish operator Nedgia. Few local companies will be involved in these operations.
The Can Mata WAGABOX® unit will then undergo a testing phase, before being commissioned for at least 10 years. Controlled remotely from Waga Energy’s head office in Grenoble (France), it will operate in fully automated mode 24/7. This production unit will recover methane from the decay of organic matter contained in waste and convert it into biomethane, a renewable substitute for fossil-based natural gas, which will then be injected directly into Nedgia’s pipelines.
“We are pleased to unite with PreZero España in this energy transition project in Catalonia. The WAGABOX® unit in Can Mata will indeed produce 70 GWh (240 000 mmBtu) of biomethane per year, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 14,000 local homes or a fleet of 200 heavy trucks. It will thus avoid the emission of 17,000 tons of eqCO2 per year into the atmosphere.” says Baptiste Usquin, CEO Waga Energy in Spain.
This innovative energy transition project has received a European subsidy of €2.4 million as part of the Innovation Fund program, which finances innovative technologies that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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