It is the consecration of a pioneer in the reprocessing of landfill gas. After six years of existence, Waga Energy went public on Wednesday, October 27. The company, which had a market capitalization of 499 million euros at the end of its first day of trading has raised 110 million euros to accelerate its development in France, but especially internationally, which represents 98% of this ultra-specific market.
If the three co-founders should retain some 30% of the capital (against 36% previously) as well as Air Liquide through its investment fund (14.9% after the operation), new shareholders are committed, such as CMA CGM, keen to secure its biogas supply for its container ships, but also the Swiss Vitol, one of the world’s leading energy resellers, and the Australian gas distributor Viva Energy.
Since 1987, in France, as in all developed countries, landfill centers have had to capture and treat the gases resulting from fermentation. For a long time, they were most often burned by means of a flare. Waga Energy has found a way to recover them and avoid the release of millions of tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CH4 (methane) in the atmosphere. Two gases that contribute to global warming.
“We are resolutely competitive”
Thanks to their “Wagabox”, a mini-processing plant the size of a basketball court, the company filters, extracts oxygen and cleans all the impurities from these gases, in order to transform them into biogas, which the company uses. it can then be reinjected into the city’s network. All for an average cost of 40 to 70 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), against 80 to 130 euros for that resulting from agricultural methanization. A competitive level, fossil gas selling, since September, above 63 euros per MWh.
“With soaring energy prices, we are resolutely competitive, greet Mathieu Lefebvre, boss and co-founder of Waga Energy. However, we have built our business model on a much lower gas price, as we enter into long-term resale contracts, to counter market volatility. “
So far, Waga Energy has equipped ten French landfills and launched the construction of a dozen other equipment in France, but also in Spain, Quebec and the United States. “We have around a hundred projects under negotiation, the majority of which are abroad”, indicates Mr. Lefebvre.
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