Waga Energy receives $15 million in financial aid for Québec RNG project

Waga Energy, a France-based company that specializes in converting landfill gas-to-renewable natural gas (RNG), has been awarded CA$15 million ($10.8 million) in financial aid from Québec's Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy.  

This aid will finance part of the construction of a RNG production unit at the Hébertville-Station landfill in Québec, owned and operated by the Régie des Matières Résiduelles du Lac-Saint-Jean (RMR). Waga Energy says this will be the unit's final construction stage of the project, which was signed in November 2024. 

This support comes from the electrification and climate change fund and is part of the implementation plan for the 2030 Green Economy Plan (PEV), which supports measures targeting technological development projects to help achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction target set by Québec government. This project is fully in line with the objectives of Québec and the PEV 2030, which aims to integrate 10 percent of RNG into its gas network by 2030. 

“I would like to thank Minister Éric Girard and the Québec Government for awarding this grant to the project we are carrying out with the waste management authority of Lac-Saint-Jean,” says Waga Energy Canada CEO Julie Flynn. “This renewed confidence from the government proves once again that the innovative technology of Wagabox units is attractive and that our mutual commitment to energy transition remains as strong as ever.” 

The RMR serves 50 municipalities in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region and the Mashteuiatsh community. Waga Energy will build and operate a production unit using its patented Wagabox technology to convert biogas generated from waste into RNG.  

Waga Energy says the equipment will produce up to 188,000 million British thermal units (MMBtu), or 160 gigawatt-hours, which corresponds to the energy consumption of approximately 2,900 Québec households. By avoiding the emission of approximately 9,400 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year, this project will contribute to reducing the region's carbon footprint, supporting Québec’s climate objectives. 

The Hébertville-Station landfill has an annual capacity of 203,500 metric tons of waste. The biogas generated from the decomposition of organic matter is currently captured and burned in a flare. Once the Wagabox unit is fully operational, this biogas will be purified and injected into Énergir's fossil natural gas distribution network, providing renewable energy to households and businesses in the region. 

This is the fifth RNG production project undertaken by Waga Energy in Canada. Four units are already in operation in Québec (Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Cowansville and Chicoutimi) and in British Columbia (Victoria on Vancouver Island).