Bath landfill in New York commissions gas-to-energy system - Waste Today

Brian Taylor, Senior Editor

France-based technology provider Waga Energy says one of its Wagabox landfill-gas-to-energy systems at the Bath Landfill in Steuben County, New York, has begun operating.

The new system has been designed to deliver up to 207,000 million metric British thermal units MMBtu of renewable natural gas (RNG) annually. That amount equates to 60 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy.

The RNG produced will be provided to the into the Corning Natural Gas network, which provides service to some 15,000 customers in the Southern Tier region of western and central New York.

According to Waga, the RNG produced at the Bath Landfill “replaces fossil-derived fuels and is supplying the equivalent of 4,000 households annually with clean, local and renewable energy, avoiding an estimated 13,500 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions per year.”

Steuben County becomes the first district in the United States to use RNG created by a Wagabox facility, Waga Energy says.

“This is a wonderful example of a public-private endeavor that provides significant environmental benefits to the citizens of Steuben County,” says Christopher Brewer, deputy county manager of Steuben County.

“The commissioning of the Wagabox unit at the Steuben County landfill is a major milestone in the deployment of our solution in the United States, and a further step toward decarbonization, Waga Energy Inc. (USA) CEO Guénaël Prince says. "As the first commissioning unit in the U.S., we are appreciative of Steuben County’s trust in Waga Energy to be selected for this project.”

The project will generate revenue by selling RNG via an offtake agreement with a private energy provider through a purchase agreement. The revenue generated will be shared with the county.

“Our company is pleased to accept renewable natural gas into our distribution system and partner with Waga Energy and Steuben County on this project,” Corning Natural Gas CEO Mike German says. “Without innovative energy projects like these, landfill gas would otherwise be wasted or vented to the atmosphere. Corning is very excited to do our part in moving towards reducing our carbon footprint and a more sustainable future.”

Globally, Waga Energy now operates 20 Wagabox units and has 14 more under construction.

The Bath municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill is permitted to accept up to 280,000 tons of MSW per year. The county solicited proposals for a landfill gas utilization project in July 2020, after which Waga Energy was selected as the preferred developer for the RNG project.