The WAGABOX® Unit Case Study: Els Hostalets de Pierola, Can Mata, Spain

The Ferrovial Servicios group, a leading global service operator, has selected Waga Energy to produce biomethane at the Can Mata landfill, one of Spain’s largest landfill, near Barcelona. The Can Mata site will be the first in Spain to use the WAGABOX® purification technology, developed by Waga Energy to recover landfill gas in the form of biomethane, a renewable substitute for natural gas.

The WAGABOX® unit at the Can Mata site will be commissioned in 2022. It will treat up to 2,200 m3/h (240,000 mmBtu) of landfill gas and inject 70 GWh of biomethane per year into the gas network of the Spanish operator Nedgia, which is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 14,000 Spanish households or a fleet of 200 lorries. The project will avoid the emission of 17,000 tonnes of CO2 per year by substituting renewable gas for natural gas.

The Can Mata landfill site is one of the largest in Spain. It covers 68 hectares in the municipality of Els Hostalets de Pierola, about 40 kilometers from Barcelona. Ferrovial Servicios has operated the site for the last 20 years, treating more than 20 million tons of waste. The waste stored in Can Mata generates nearly 40 million cubic meters of biogas per year. This biogas has so far been used to provide electricity and fuel for a neighboring ceramic factory.

Ferrovial Servicios processes more than one million tons of waste per year at several sites. The company has developed an expertise in the production of biomethane by deploying a project to purify biogas from urban waste based on the use of digesters at its Valdemingómez site, which is then marketed directly.

Waga Energy has begun the ISCC EU certification process for several of its European RNG production
facilities that are either under construction or operational. The facility currently being built at the
PreZero landfill site near Barcelona, Spain is the first to be awarded this European quality
accreditation that helps boost the market value of RNG.

Waga Energy, a European specialist in upgrading landfill gas (LFG) to renewable natural gas (RNG), has been awarded ISCC EU certification for its facility under construction at the PreZero site in Els Hostalets de Pierola (Catalonia, Spain) following an independent audit conducted in April 2023. This accreditation proves that the installation meets sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions savings criteria set out in the European RED II Directive1. It enables RNG purchasers to prove they are reducing the environmental impact of their business, measure their products’ carbon footprint, and prove their compliance with any regulatory obligations.

Waga Energy has begun the certification process for all its European facilities with production capacity of over 20 GWh per year. In France, this certification will soon be a requirement for accessing the feed-in tariff. It will also facilitate the sale of RNG through private Biomethane Purchase Agreements (BPA).

The International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) program developed within the European Union is the world’s first biomass and bioenergy certification scheme.

The first WAGABOX^® unit in Spain, developed and patented by Waga Energy, will inject 70 GWh (240,000 MMBtu) of RNG per year into the grid of the gas operator Nedgia (Naturgy group). This is equivalent to the gas consumption of 14,000 Spanish households, or to a fleet of 200 buses using it as biofuel. Thus, we act to avoid the emission of 17,000 tons of CO2 eq each year, contributing to the reduction of emissions and combating global warming.

The facility has obtained ISCC EU certification, demonstrating that its production complies with the sustainability and greenhouse gas emission reduction criteria defined by the EU RED II Directive.

This innovative project has also obtained a grant of 2.4 million euros from the European Union through the Innovation Fund – Small Scale program for the promotion of technological innovation for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Catalonia’s Minister for Climate Action, Food and the Rural Agenda, David Mascort, officially opened the Renewable Natural Gas production unit at the Can Mata landfill site on Friday, October 20. This is Spain’s largest project to transform biogas from waste degradation into renewable energy.

The initiative is led by PreZero Spain, one of the leading companies in the environmental sector specializing in the provision of urban services and the development of circular economy solutions, and Waga Energy, a leader in the production of biomethane from controlled landfill biogas. Nedgia, the Naturgy Group’s gas distributor, will inject the biomethane into its network via a 6-kilometer pipeline built as part of the project.

The plant is located in the Can Mata landfill site (Els Hostalets de Pierola, Catalonia) and can produce up to 70 GWh of biomethane per year from the recovery of gas emitted by wastes, equivalent to the energy consumption of 14,000 households or the fuel for 200 trucks. The use of RNG production will avoid the emission of 13,000 tons of CO₂ per year by replacing fossil natural gas consumption with this renewable energy. The RNG produced by this unit has been awarded “ISCC EU” certification, which guarantees that it complies with the sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction criteria defined by the European directive on renewable energies.

The plant, which represents a breakthrough in the renewable energy sector, has been awarded a 2.4 million euro grant from the European Union as part of the Innovation Fund Small Scale program, which aims to develop innovative technologies to reduce carbon footprints.

Nedgia, a subsidiary of the Naturgy Group, has launched its first reverse flow station near Barcelona, marking a significant advancement in integrating renewable energies into Spain’s gas distribution network. This station will absorb the entire production of biomethane from Waga Energy’s WAGABOX® unit located at the Can Mata site in Catalonia.

By allowing the WAGABOX® unit to operate at full capacity, this installation will inject up to 70 GWh of renewable gas into the network annually, equivalent to the energy consumption of 14,000 households or 200 buses, thus contributing to greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

This collaboration between PreZero, an environmental solutions specialist, Waga Energy, and Nedgia has resulted in the installation of a six-kilometer connection financed by Waga Energy, enabling the injection of biomethane produced by the WAGABOX® unit into Nedgia’s distribution network. Previously, production was limited to local households connected to this network, but now, thanks to the reverse flow station, Nedgia can absorb the entire production and extend the reach of renewable gas beyond the local network.

This initiative, which also marks the installation of Spain’s first reverse flow station by a gas network operator, underscores the crucial role of renewable gas in the country’s energy transition. The WAGABOX® unit at Can Mata thus illustrates the collective commitment of industrial leaders to sustainable energy solutions and combating climate change.