Michel Angers, President of RGMRM: “From now on, treating our gas is no longer an expense, it is a new income stream”.
Waga Energy has been enlisted by the Mauricie Residual Materials Management Board (RGMRM) to deploy a WAGABOX® unit at the Saint-Étienne-des-Grès landfill, in Quebec. The green gas produced onsite will be injected into the gas grid of Énergir, the largest natural gas distribution company in the province. This landfill green gas project will be the first in Canada to use the WAGABOX® technology.
Saint-Étienne-des-Grès is the most important landfill to be operated by a collectivity in Quebec. It receives 180 000 tons of waste per year. Until today, gas organically generated by the waste at the RGMRM landfill was captured and burned in a flare. Thanks to this project, the landfill gas recovered on site will be bought by Waga Energy for a period of at least 20 years, to be then transformed into grid-quality biomethane by the WAGABOX® gas treatment unit. Waga Energy will generate income by selling its biomethane production to Energir.
23,000 tons of CO2 emissions avoided per year
Designed to process 3,400 cubic meters (2,000 scfm) of landfill gas per hour, the WAGABOX® unit in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès will produce 130 GWh (444,000 mmBtus) of renewable gas per year, corresponding to the annual consumption of 8,000 local households. The WAGABOX® will be built in Shawinigan by a local company under the supervision of Waga Energy’s Canadian subsidiary, with the exception of a cryogenic distillation module which will be imported from France. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2022.
The project carried out jointly by RGMRM and Waga Energy will improve the environmental record of Mauricie and will contribute to Quebec’s energy transition. It will prevent the release of 23,000 tons of CO2 per year into the atmosphere by substituting renewable gas for conventional natural gas.
Michel Angers, President of RGMRM, said: “This contract is the result of an initiative undertaken several months ago to identify the best technology to enable us to use our landfill biogas to its full potential. From now on, treating our biogas 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 Quebec’s energy transition.”
Mathieu Lefebvre, president and co-founder of Waga Energy, declared: “Thanks to the WAGABOX®solution; more than 2,000 North American landfill sites will now be able to produce renewable natural gas, contribute to the energy transition, and generate an additional revenue stream without the need for investment and free from operating constraints.”
An operator is measuring landfill gas composition at an extraction well of the Saint-Étienne-des-Grés landfill. (copyright RGMRM)