Renewable natural gas project announced for Watford-area landfill

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A methane-harnessing project at Waste Management’s Twin Creeks landfill near Warwick could be operational in early 2025, producng enough natural gas to heat 35,000 homes a year for 20 years, a site official says.

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“That’s pretty cool,” said engineering manager Wayne Jenken.

The project, announced at the landfill Tuesday, will creates renewable natural gas (RNG) from landfill gas by removing carbon dioxide, oxygen and other trace gases, compressing it and injecting it into Enbridge’s transmission network, he said.

The only difference between landfill-produced and fossil fuel-derived natural gas is the source, Jenken said. Landfill gas, createed by decaying organic material, is collected via a series of wells and pipes under negative pressure.

Redirecting that gas, instead of burning it off via a flare stack, is expected to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 28,000 vehicles off the road, he said.

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Project approvals are expected by year’s end, when construction is slated to start, Jenken said. “We’re on target to commission this facility late in 2024 and expect full operation early in 2025.”

Building it will create some 75 construction jobs, he said.

Once it’s built, Waste Management will hire six full-time operations and maintenance workers, growing to 10 over time, he said.

The landfill already produces the gas, said Waste Management spokesperson Jessica Kropf.

“We’re looking to do something more effective with it, more environmentally friendly,” she said, noting the company is “hyper focused on sustainability and making sure we are doing everything we can to decrease emissions.”

Waste Management has 16 renewable natural gas plants in North America, and is building 17 more, she said.

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Building those started about five years ago, Jenken said.

There are two such projects in Canada, at Twin Creeks and Sainte-Sophie, Que., Kropf said. The company has set aside roughly $300 million for themo.

“That’s kind of our overall planned investment, and then as things progress we’ll be able to refine that number,” she said.

That includes paying for a 16-kilometre pipeline from the landfill south to Enbridge’s main transmission line, said Enbridge RNG specialist Justin Egan.

That plan awaits Ontario Energy Board approval, with construction expected to start next year and wrap up early in 2025, he said.

The renewable natural gas project is expected to create more income for its host, Warwick Township, Mayor Todd Case said. Details of a new community commitment agreement are expected soon.

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One negotiated about a dozen years ago for hosting the landfill is worth about $4 million a year to the township, he said, which typically helps fund capital projects and grant programs.

“Whenever you can take methane and stop it from flaring into the atmosphere and turn it into enough energy for 35,000 homes, it’s a good day,” Case said.

A potential landfill expansion, currently in the environmental approval stage, could extend renewable natural gas production on site, Jenken said.

Existing operations are expected to yield two million gigajoules of energy a year — enough to heat 35,000 homes — for two decades, before tapering off, he said.

Environmental approval of the proposed landfill expansion could take four years, said Case, who also asked Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey, who was on hand Tuesday, to advocate for the municipality when the next round of natural gas network expansions is decided provincially.

Paradoxically, Warwick village and rural parts of the municipality aren’t serviced with natural gas, he said.

“Warwick Township is doing our part to help create energy within our community and we have a need here for natural gas, so . . . once the next stage for expansions is announced, we would look for the minster of energy to look favourably on our community for some of that provincial funding,” he said.

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