OCI Global, Waga Energy partner to upgrade landfill gas to RNG in Texas
Industrial gas producer OCI Global has entered into a long-term agreement with French renewable natural gas (RNG) company Waga Energy to upgrade landfill gas to RNG at the City of Beaumont Landfill in Texas, the companies announced on June 4.
OCI Global is currently constructing Texas Blue Clean Ammonia, a new low-carbon ammonia facility set to begin production in early 2025, near the proposed RNG project site. OCI Global will install a gas collection system at the City of Beaumont Landfill to recover gas spontaneously produced by organic waste. This gas will be upgraded into RNG using a Wagabox unit installed at the landfill, and then injected into the nearby gas infrastructure.
The project is expected to create more than 20 jobs during construction, adding to the more than 300 people already employed by OCI in the area, and will generate royalty revenues for the City of Beaumont once operational. OCI Global will own the RNG produced, while Waga Energy will build, own, operate, and maintain the Wagabox unit through a gas upgrading service contract.
The facility is expected to be commissioned in 2025 and will avoid up to 27,440 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions annually, equivalent to cutting emissions from 2.8mn gallons/year of gasoline, based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculation methodology.
In addition to reducing carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, obtaining biogas from landfills captures methane—a gas with a global warming potential 84 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period—that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere, the companies said.
This will be OCI Global’s first RNG facility in Texas and the first Wagabox unit to be built by Waga Energy in the state. Waga Energy operates 23 Wagabox units worldwide, with 14 more currently under construction.
Last month, Waga Energy inaugurated its Wagabox RNG production unit at the Steuben County Landfill in Bath, New York, and entered into a 20-year agreement with Rockingham County to install Wagabox technology at the Rockingham County Landfill in Madison, North Carolina.
RNG, also known as biomethane, is a sustainable and environmentally friendly gas derived from organic materials. It is produced through the natural breakdown of organic matter in landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, agricultural activities, and other organic waste sources.