OPAL Fuels Awarded for New River RNG Facility, Named Project of the Year

OPAL Fuels and the New River Solid Waste Association (NRSWA) have received recognition from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for their New River RNG facility. The plant, located at the NRSWA municipal solid waste landfill in Raiford, FL, earned ‘Project of the Year’ from ASCE Florida. OPAL Fuels—RNG producer and distributor—created the New River facility in close collaboration with NRSWA.

“OPAL Fuels is one of the largest developers and operators in the renewable biogas space, with a decades-long track record of making projects like New River RNG a reality,” said David Unger, Executive Vice President, OPAL Fuels. “We are honored that New River RNG was recognized as Project of the Year. Developing, constructing, and bringing this facility online was a tremendous cooperative effort and we thank the New River Solid Waste Association, Peoples Gas, and the entire team that made Florida’s first landfill gas to RNG project a reality.”

New River RNG facility; Image Credits: New River Solid Waste Association

The award acknowledges New River RNG’s use of climate-conscious technology to cut back on methane emissions and carbon output from the transportation industry, primarily heavy-duty trucking. New River captures methane from organic decomposition at the landfill, refines it into diesel-ready RNG, and provides it to trucking fleets to decarbonize the industry. The facility is prepared to generate approximately 5 million GGE per year of RNG, reducing scope 1 and scope 2 emissions from more than 380 heavy-duty vehicles.

“This renewable natural gas project is a commitment to innovation and contribution to waste conversion and energy recovery,” said Tzufit Boyle, PE, F.ASCE, President, ASCE Florida Section. “This project is the first in Florida to convert landfill gas into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas. It is also the first landfill to interconnect to Florida Gas Transmission's interstate pipeline and inject processed landfill gas, which is treated to meet strict pipeline-gas specifications. The Florida Section of ASCE recognizes outstanding civil engineering achievements in a branch’s area to highlight the extensive work done and give proper recognition to the project team.”

‘Project of the Year’ is scored on several criteria outlined by the ASCE Florida Section, including innovative application of technology, future value to the engineering industry, socioeconomic considerations, complexity, and exceeding client needs.