Opal Fuels partners with South Jersey Industries on RNG projects

South Jersey Industries (SJI), an energy infrastructure holding company, and Opal Fuels Inc., a leading vertically integrated producer and distributor of renewable natural gas (RNG) and renewable energy based in White Plains, New York, announced they have entered into a 50/50 joint venture to develop, construct, own and operate RNG facilities. The first facility—the Atlantic RNG facility—will be at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority’s solid waste landfill in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

“This project is consistent with our comprehensive clean energy plan, ‘Leading the Way,’” says Mike Renna, CEO of SJI, which is based in Folsom, New Jersey. “Its implementation underscores our current progress and renewed vision to achieve Scope 1 and 2 carbon-neutral operations by 2040 and lead our employees, customers and communities to a better today and tomorrow. This and future projects with Opal Fuels will permit us to accelerate achieving these goals.”

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The Atlantic RNG facility will capture naturally occurring biogas, primarily methane from the landfill, which will be upgraded to meet the required quality standards for distribution and sale. The Atlantic RNG facility is projected to have a capacity of 2,500 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM) of landfill gas and is expected to produce more than 603,000 metric million British thermal units (MMBtu) of RNG per year or nearly 4.8 million gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE).

“The development of the Atlantic RNG facility with SJI marks just the beginning of our relationship, as together we will bring more production and distribution of RNG to New Jersey,” said Opal Fuels Co-CEO Jonathan Maurer says. “This joint venture furthers Opal Fuels’ growth strategy as we look forward to leveraging our operational expertise to work with landfills to maximize the value of their resource and meet their ESG goals faster by displacing diesel fuel with RNG in heavy-duty truck fleets.”

The new Atlantic RNG facility will replace a previously decommissioned power plant and the RNG will be injected into the South Jersey Gas network, an SJI subsidiary, making this project the first of its kind in the gas company’s natural gas distribution system.