France's Waga Energy is to produce biomethane from raw biogas at a major Spanish landfill site that can be injected into the local gas grid under a landmark long-term power purchase agreement (PPA), the company said Jan. 19.
Waga was selected by Spain's Ferrovial Servicios, which operates the Can Mata landfill site, to install Waga's purification technology in order to convert waste biogas into biomethane.
The unit will be commissioned in 2022 and will inject some 70 GWh/year of biomethane directly into the gas network of the Spanish operator Nedgia.
At present, some 40 million cu m/year of raw biogas is produced at the site for sale to a local ceramics factory.
The Waga unit will greatly increase energy yields and will avoid the emission of 17,000 mt/year of CO2 by substituting renewable gas for natural gas in the system, it said.
First PPA
The Can Mata project is also the first ever landfill gas injection project to be financed by a long-term power purchase agreement in Europe, Waga said.
PPAs are common for renewable electricity projects and include the terms of the long-term sale of the power, which is critical to attract project financing.
They are rarely used for green gas projects, which generally are unable to provide buyers with a competitive price over the long term.
The Biomethane Purchase Agreement (BPA) used for the Can Mata project follows the adoption of a business model that guarantees high performance throughout the project cycle, Waga said.
Waga will purchase part of the landfill gas from the Can Mata site from Ferrovial Servicios, finance the construction and operation of the new treatment unit, as well as manage relations with the gas network operator and the sale of the biomethane.
Waga will invest Eur7.5 million to commission the unit and connect the Can Mata site to the Nedgia gas grid, some 4 km away.
The company already operates 10 such units in France, avoiding 45,000 mt/year of CO2 emissions, it said.
