BGE becomes first utility in Maryland to use biogas from anaerobic digesters

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE) has gained approval to use biogas in its distribution system, making it the first utility in the state of Maryland to do so.

As reported by WTOP, the Maryland Public Service Commission approved BGE’s request in late August to supply biogas or renewable natural gas (RNG) to its distribution system through an interconnection pipe.

“This first RNG project in Maryland [will] jump-start a new industry in Maryland, contributing to economic growth, managing waste streams, and bringing a cleaner, renewable energy source to our community,” Rodney Oddoye, BGE’s senior vice president of governmental and external affairs, said in a statement.

The biogas will come from the state’s largest anaerobic digester located on the Maryland Food Center Authority campus in Jessup, one of the largest food terminals on the East Coast. It is operated by Bioenergy Devco, a global company that designs, builds and operates anaerobic digestion facilities, with 240 plants across the world. Bioenergy Devco expects to start fully operating in Jessup by early spring of 2022.

Bioenergy Devco’s anaerobic digesters are about a quarter of a mile from BGE’s main pipeline that holds natural gas, which is primarily methane, according to Richard Yost, a spokesman for BGE. Through their interconnection agreement, BGE can extend its main pipeline to connect to Bioenergy Devco’s site in order to directly channel biogas into its distribution system.

This interconnection agreement marks the first “renewable natural gas” allowed on a utility system in Maryland.

“We try, in every location that we situate an anaerobic digester, to contribute to the replacement of fossil fuel-based natural gas with a clean green energy product,” Ettinger said. In other words, Bioenergy Devco displaces gas created from fossil fuel sources with gas created from organic sources, said Peter Ettinger, the chief development officer of Bioenergy Devco.