UGI signs groundbreaking renewable natural gas agreement
When UGI Corp. subsidiary UGI Utilities Inc. signed its first renewable natural gas supply interconnect agreement with renewable energy solutions developer Archaea Energy LLC, the result is the nation’s largest RNG supply point.
UGI Utilities will accept RNG delivery from the Keystone Landfill in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, for injection into a high-pressure gas pipeline that serves its distribution system in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
The system will be capable of off-taking up to 16,000 Mcf per day at a rate of up to 780 Mcf per hour, utility officials said. The landfill gas will be processed and conditioned to meet UGI Utilities’ gas quality requirements.
Citing UGI Utilities’ commitment to reduce current carbon levels by 35% by 2030 and 55% by 2040, Hans G. Bell, president of UGI Utilities Inc., said this milestone advances the utility’s strategy to meet those goals.
“The company is targeting a wide range of initiatives to achieve these reductions, including facility replacement and betterment, and use of renewable energy,” Bell told American Gas. Another example is UGI Utilities’ completion of a solar array installation at its headquarters in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, late last year, he said.
With Pennsylvania home to so much shale gas, the initiative is especially welcome. “Moving this RNG supply into the UGI Utilities distribution system provides benefits to the company and to the many communities it serves,” Bell said. “In addition to securing a local source of gas for UGI Utilities customers, accepting the delivery of RNG for customer use reduces the release of naturally occurring methane from the Keystone Landfill into the atmosphere. From an environmental perspective, accepting delivery of the RNG will reduce carbon dioxide emissions.”
The project is scheduled to become operational in September 2021.
“Bringing renewable natural gas supply onto our distribution systems can provide us with the opportunity to continue growing in an environmentally responsible way, as well as enhance and expand our commitment to offer energy solutions that are innovative, efficient and beneficial to the environment,” Bell said.
