Waga Energy
Waga Energy is a biomethane (RNG) producer specializing in landfill gas upgrading with their proprietary technology that combines two gas treatment processes. Waga Energy is a pioneer French company that developed a global reach and is now celebrating its 8th year of operation. Their head office is in France and in the last three years they opened offices in Canada, the United States, Spain, United Kingdom and Italy.
Waga Energy builds, owns, and operates their proprietary technology, the WAGABOX®, which is a landfill gas upgrading unit that delivers RNG ready for grid-injection. The three founders of Waga Energy were all engineers from Air Liquide, and the WAGABOX® technology is the result of ten years for R&D by Waga Energy which combines two upgrading processes – membrane filtration and cryogenic distillation.
Membrane filtration removes the carbon dioxide and impurities from landfill gas. The landfill gas is then cryogenically cooled to isolate the methane from the oxygen and nitrogen to produce 98 % pure RNG. WAGABOX® units recover 90 % of the methane from landfill gas. The WAGABOX® technology has a 95% uptime, and the Waga Energy team is able to control the units remotely to monitor and optimize operation.
Julie Flynn, CEO of Waga Energy Canada explains “We consider ourselves the link between the offtaker and the landfill”. Waga Energy offers two main services both based on the build, own, operate model. The landfill can sell the raw biogas directly to Waga Energy, Waga Energy will then own and run the upgrading facility and sell the RNG to an offtaker. Alternatively, Waga Energy can provide just the upgrader service, where the landfill keeps ownership of the gas and deals directly with the offtaker.
Waga Energy Canada is currently installing two other units in Québec and one in British Columbia. The Saint-Etienne-des-Grès landfill gas project will be online in full operation in May 2023. The WAGABOX® unit will process up to 3,500 Nm3/hour of biogas into RNG to inject into the Énergir grid under a 20-year contract. There are plans to co-locate a digester at the site in a few years, and the WAGABOX® unit will also upgrade the biogas from that facility. Waga Energy Canada was also proud to be selected for the Hartland landfill project in British Columbia, as this is their first project outside of Québec and British Columbia does not have the same biogas specific subsidies as Québec.
For the outlook of biogas, Julie shares that “I assume we will take the same path as Europe, and we are starting to see a lot of projects come online in Québec due to the subsidies. The rest of Canada has the potential to become as important a player as the United States, which is why we are currently putting an important effort in evangelizing landfill gas upgrading into RNG as we are convinced that it is the pillar of the country’s energy transition and independence.”
Waga Energy joined the Canadian Biogas Association as members in 2021. They joined because they recognized the importance of a united voice to grow the industry. Julie adds that “As a growing company, it’s been a good place to meet new members and share lessons learned.”
