Chesapeake Utilities Completes $7.3 Million RNG Pipeline Project in Ohio

Chesapeake Utilities Corp. announced Oct. 14 that construction of its Noble Road Landfill Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) pipeline project has been completed.

The company’s subsidiary, Aspire Energy of Ohio, constructed the 33.1-mile pipeline, which will transport RNG generated from the Noble Road Landfill in Shiloh, Ohio, to Aspire Energy’s pipeline system, displacing conventionally produced natural gas. In conjunction with this expansion, Aspire Energy also upgraded an existing compressor station and installed two new metering and regulation sites.

Chesapeake Utilities invested $7.3 million in the project, which was constructed in just over a six-month period. Throughput of the RNG is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021. The company expects to generate gross margin of $0.1 million in 2021; $0.75 million annually in 2022 through 2025; and $1 million in 2026 and thereafter.

Aspire Energy partnered with OPAL Fuels, an emerging leader in the production and distribution of RNG, and Rumpke Waste & Recycling, one of the nation’s largest privately-owned residential and commercial waste and recycling firms. Rumpke will extract and capture waste methane from the Noble Road Landfill, and OPAL Fuels will utilize its new, state-of-the-art facility to remove carbon dioxide and other components from the methane, purifying the biogas to pipeline quality standards. In addition to supplying Aspire Energy’s customers, the RNG will be dispensed into fueling stations to fuel compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles also via OPAL Fuels.

“At Chesapeake Utilities, we’ve made a strategic decision to actively support the sustainability efforts of the communities we serve. Included in that commitment is an active engagement in environmental stewardship and the development and supply of lower carbon energy sources, like RNG,” said Jeff Householder, president and chief executive officer of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation. “The Noble Road pipeline represents the first of many RNG projects under development that will deliver energy that contributes to a sustainable future. Transporting RNG from the landfill through our pipeline system provides a path to markets that supports the economics of the biogas production and significantly reduces total carbon emissions. The outcome of this collaborative project is a win for customers, the local community and the environment.”

The Noble Road project will capture and transport quantities of renewable natural gas equivalent to 6.9 million gasoline gas equivalents (GGE) per year, enough to fuel 725 biofuel trucks.