Renewable natural gas plant opens in Jackson County
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A subsidiary of BP has begun operation of its renewable natural gas (RNG) plant in the Jackson County town of Medora, the company announced Wednesday. Archaea Energy said the facility can produce enough RNG to heat more than 13,000 homes annually.
The company did not disclose its financial investment in the Archaea Modular Design plant.
The facility is located next to the Rumpke Waste & Recycling landfill. The plant captures the gas from the landfill and converts it to RNG. It can also be converted into electricity or heat, the company said.
“What we are doing at the Medora plant is phenomenal, and it’s just the beginning of what’s to come at Archaea,” Archaea Energy CEO Starlee Sykes said in a news release. “This is a powerful step forward in our net zero journey to capture landfill emissions and provide customers with lower emission, lower carbon fuel.”
Medora is located about 80 miles south of Indianapolis.
The company’s modular design allows plans to be built on skids with interchangeable components, rather than being custom built, which is what is traditionally done for RNG plants.
Traditionally, RNG plants have been custom built, but the Archaea Modular Design allows plants to be built on skids with interchangeable components. Using a standardized modular design leads to faster builds than previous industry standards.
“Our goal is to safely bring several AMD plants online this year,” Sykes said. “I’m in awe of our team who designed, engineered and built this facility, and we can’t wait to bring more online across the US.”
Archaea did not state how many jobs were created with the plant. A request for more information from Inside INdiana Business was not returned.
BP acquired Archaea Energy in December 2022 for $4.1 billion. The company said with the acquisition, it is now the largest RNG producer in the United States.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Archaea Energy also has RNG operations in nine other states, as well as a landfill gas-to-electric operation in Argos, Indiana.