Waga Energy, Matrec-GFL commission RNG production unit in Quebec

France’s Waga Energy and Matrec-GFL in Quebec have commissioned an RNG production unit at a closed landfill in Chicoutimi, Que. The RNG will be injected in the Énergir grid and will contribute to reaching the decarbonation objectives of the Quebec government.

Operated between 1998 and 2017 by Matrec-GFL, the Chicoutimi landfill received more than 1.6 million tonnes of non-hazardous waste. Although the site is no longer in operation, it will still produce biogas for several years, from the degradation of organic maters landfilled. Thanks to the WAGABOX technology, developed and patented by Waga Energy, this biogas is now recovered in the form of RNG, a renewable substitute to fossil-based natural gas. This RNG is sold to Énergir, the main natural gas distributor in Quebec, and injected directly into its grid. Waga Energy and Matrec-GFL contribute to reaching the objective of injecting 10 per cent RNG by 2030 into the Énergir gas grid, as part of the Quebec government’s Plan for a Green economy.

The WAGABOX unit will produce 16 GWh of RNG per year (54,600,000 MMBtu), corresponding to the gas consumption of around 1,000 local households, and will avoid the emission of more than 2,500 tonnes of CO2eq in the atmosphere by substituting fossil-based natural gas in the Énergir grid. Matrec-GFL has granted Waga Energy the right to exploit the biogas from the Chicoutimi landfill for a period of 10 years. Revenue generated by the sale of the RNG will be shared between the two partners.

The project benefited from subsidies of $7.1 million from the Quebec government, including $3.76 million granted to Waga Energy for the construction of the RNG production facility and $3.36 million to Énergir to connect the Chicoutimi landfill to its grid. The WAGABOX unit was built in Quebec, with the support of local contractors, except for the cryogenic distillation module which was manufactured in France.

This is the second WAGABOX unit commissioned by Waga Energy in Quebec. Two other units are under construction in Canada, one in Cowansville, in the Brome-Missisquoi region of Quebec, and the other in Victoria, B.C.; six units are also under construction in the United States.