Spire and KC Water are partnering on Kansas City, Missouri's first renewable natural gas (RNG) facility, a project that will capture methane emissions from the wastewater treatment process to generate renewable energy.
KC Water selected Spire after an extensive proposal process to construct the RNG facility, which is an extension of a current KC Water project. The project was approved October 26 by the Kansas City Council and is intended to repurpose biogas generated from the city's Blue River Wastewater Treatment Plant into RNG. The new facility is expected to be complete in 2025.
Spire plans to include the renewable energy generated at the facility in their natural gas supply for customers to heat homes, fuel businesses and potentially fuel vehicles. Because RNG is fully compatible with conventional natural gas and existing pipeline infrastructure, customers do not need to change their natural gas appliances to reap the environmental benefits of RNG.
By capturing emissions that otherwise would be emitted into the air, the project will assist KC Water with improving air quality near their wastewater facility. KC Water estimates it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 20,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year. The partnership will also generate approximately $1 million of revenue for KC Water per year.
"We appreciate the City of Kansas City for selecting Spire for this project. RNG will help us meet our customers' growing interest in a lower carbon, affordable and reliable source of energy," said Nick Popielski, Spire vice president of sustainability. "And as part of our commitment to becoming a carbon neutral company by midcentury, we can lower our carbon emissions by incorporating renewable natural gas into the supply we offer our customers."
Spire Missouri will serve as the developer on the project with Burns & McDonnell providing engineering and construction expertise. Key priorities for the entire project team include diverse business participation from minority and women owned businesses. Spire anticipates it will produce 0.3 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas a year which would be enough energy to supply 4300 homes in the Kansas City region with natural gas.
