Executives at major publicly traded companies indicated they’re largely satisfied with how their renewable natural gas projects are progressing this year in comments shared during their second quarter earnings results.
BP's Archaea Energy has brought four RNG plants online this year, including three in the second quarter, according to its latest earnings release. It's planning four more for the third quarter. On the company's July 30 earnings call, BP executives noted that U.S. RNG sales have trended ahead of other types of biofuels in the second quarter.
In particular, D3 RINs “are actually holding up very well at the moment," in part thanks to the end of the cellulosic waiver credit, said Carol Howle, BP's executive vice president of trading and shipping. That has provided a strong pricing environment for companies like BP-owned Archaea, which sells the rights to its RNG on the open transportation market.
Other major waste companies have also discussed progress on RNG projects. WM and Republic Services each reported they expected five more projects of their own to come online this year. GFL also reported two to three more RNG projects would come online for the company in 2024.
Waste Connections reported struggles with getting its facilities online, a complaint other waste companies have shared in the past. During the company's earnings call on July 25, executives reported three landfill-gas-to-RNG projects are dealing with delays related to “last mile” interconnections with electric utilities. “Across the industry the projects are taking longer and the costs are running higher,” CFO Mary Anne Whitney told analysts.
Several executives also weighed in on the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine earlier this year, which affects the latitude federal agencies have to interpret and implement laws. While analysts wondered whether the decision could threaten the Renewable Fuel Standards program, which implements RINs, several industry leaders urged calm.
“Smarter people than us on the RINs... don't have that perspective that the Chevron decision will affect anything,” GFL CEO Patrick Dovigi said on his company’s earnings call.
Viridi signs major offtake agreement with Énergir
Viridi Energy will deliver about half of the RNG it produces at three sites to Canadian gas utility Énergir in a 20-year agreement, the partners announced on July 24. Viridi will supply roughly 616,000 mmBtus of energy annually to Énergir through that agreement.
Three of Viridi's facilities are included in the deal: two are landfill-gas-to-RNG, and one is a biosolids digester plant currently undergoing an upgrade.
Viridi acquired the latter facility in Brunswick, Maine, in March. There, it has an agreement with Casella to process the wastewater sludge before it’s landfilled in the Casella-operated Juniper Ridge Landfill in Maine, which has been struggling with capacity issues. The digester can produce about 190,000 mmBtus of RNG annually, Viridi estimated when it completed the purchase.
Previously, Viridi acquired an “in-progress landfill gas-to-RNG project” in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, in December, according to the release. That facility is expected to produce up to 600,000 mmBtus of RNG per year once operational. Finally, Viridi is partnering with the Marathon County Solid Waste Department in Ringle, Wisconsin, to produce RNG at its landfill. That project is expected to begin operation in the first quarter of next year, according to a spokesperson.
Viridi also has two other projects in the works: an anaerobic digestion project in Yaphank, New York, and a landfill-gas-to-RNG project in Baldwin County, Alabama.
Utility receives gas offtake approval at three landfills in Florida
Peninsula Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Delaware-based energy provider Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, has received approval from the Florida Public Service Commission to move forward with three RNG projects in the state. The utility will invest about $46 million in the projects, all of which are expected to be open in the first half of next year.
The three petitions approved by the Florida regulator will allow PPC to plug landfill gas systems into its existing grid. One will offtake gas from the Brevard County Solid Waste Department Central Disposal Facility. Another will offtake gas from WM’s Medley landfill in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Another will offtake gas from a publicly-owned landfill in Indian River County. Previously, Nopetro Renewables announced it is developing the RNG facility at that site. The company broke ground on that $40 million project in March.
Together, the projects represent an expansion in landfill-gas-to-RNG projects in the state. When Nopetro announced its projects, it was the second such facility to be financed in the state.
Waga Energy opens third Canadian RNG facility
Waga Energy has brought another RNG facility online in Quebec. The French company expects to produce 102,000 mmBtus of RNG annually at the landfill, owned by the Zone-Éco regional authority in Cowansville, Quebec. The landfill serves four municipalities in the greater Montreal area. The project received $12.4 million (Canadian) in subsidies.
The new RNG system is expected to match consumption equivalent to 1,750 households in the area. Its gas will be injected into the pipeline for Énergir, the gas utility in Quebec. This is the ninth injection project for Énergir. The province of Quebec has a target to reach 10% RNG injected into its gas grid by 2030.
This is Waga's third RNG facility in Canada, all of which are in Quebec. The new facility brings Waga to an installed capacity of nearly 660,000 mmBtus of RNG in the province annually. Waga's fourth Canadian facility is currently being built in Hartland, British Columbia. The company is also plotting further expansion in North America after securing a 100 million Euro loan.
