The Capital Regional District has awarded a contract for the design, construction and operation of a new facility at the Hartland Landfill which will produce renewable natural gas.
Waga Energy, through its subsidiary Hartland Renewable Resource Group, was announced as the contract winner for the facility, which will convert the biogas generated at the landfill into natural gas, which will then be purchased by FortisBC.
The project is expected to reduce the Capital Region’s greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 450,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years, the equivalent of removing 3,900 cars from the road or heating 3,000 homes with a heat pump instead of oil, according to a release.
“Adopting long-term solutions that reduce our region’s emissions is a crucial part of the CRD’s commitment to take meaningful action on climate change and using renewable natural gas is an important step forward towards a greener future,” said CRD board chair Colin Plant, in the release. “Partnering with Waga Energy on the design, construction and operation of a state-of-the-art landfill gas upgrading facility marks a significant investment in the future sustainability of our region.”
To complement the new gas facility, CRD staff are also making a number of operational and design improvements at the landfill to capture more of the biogas produced by organic waste. As a result, the need for a larger facility was identified during the procurement process for this project and new estimates anticipate GHG emission reductions of 450,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years, a 73 per cent improvement from initial projections of 260,000 tonnes in 2019.
Under the contract, Waga Energy will both design and build the new biogas upgrade facility and decommission the site’s current landfill gas to electricity plant by September 2024. Waga will also operate and maintain the facility on the CRD’s behalf for 25 years according to terms that include performance guarantees. The CRD will continue to be responsible for the ownership and operation of Hartland Landfill, the landfill’s gas collection system and the new biogas upgrading facility.
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