Archaea Energy, Republic Services open first RNG plant in ‘landmark’ partnership

Archaea Energy, a subsidiary of BP, and Republic Services, Phoenix, have opened the first renewable natural gas (RNG) plant in the companies’ Lightning Renewables joint venture.

The Archaea Modular Design (AMD) plant at Republic's National Serv-All Landfill in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is the first of approximately 40 landfill gas-to-RNG projects targeted by the joint venture and is scheduled to come online this summer.

“From the start, our focus has been opening plants safely and reliably, and demonstrating progress and growth," Archaea Energy CEO Starlee Sykes says. “Continuing to build momentum with the Lightning Renewables joint venture, the Fort Wayne plant is just the beginning of our incredible partnership with Republic Services to capture landfill emissions and provide customers with lower-emission, lower-carbon fuel.”

Traditionally, RNG plants have been custom-built, but AMD allows plants to be built on skids with interchangeable components, according to Archaea. Using a standardized modular design leads to faster builds than previous industry standards. The Fort Wayne AMD plant will convert landfill gas, a natural byproduct of the decomposition of waste, collected from Republic Services’ landfill into RNG.

“Republic Services is investing in sustainability innovation to provide decarbonization solutions for our customers, and our Lightning Renewables partnership with Archaea Energy is a prime example,” says Jon Vander Ark, Republic Services president and CEO. “We're proud to celebrate the first of the approximately 40 RNG projects in the Lightning Renewables portfolio. Together, we're helping create a more sustainable world.”

The Fort Wayne plant, once in operation, is expected to process up to 6,400 scfm into RNG – enough gas to heat more than 25,000 homes annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Gas Energy Benefits Calculator.

With the 2022 acquisition of Archaea, BP is now the largest RNG producer in the U.S., enhancing its ability to support customers’ decarbonization goals and progressing its aim to reduce the average lifecycle carbon intensity of the energy products it sells. The Lightning Renewables JV portfolio supports Archaea's intended growth to greater than 50 million MMBtus per year by 2030.