BP-owned renewable natural gas (RNG) producer Archaea Energy started up its new Archaea modular design RNG plant in Shawnee, Kansas, located next to a privately-owned landfill, the company announced April 30 in a press release.

The Shawnee plant will use its modular design to capture gas from the nearby landfill and convert it to renewable natural gas.

The plant is capable of processing 9,600 standard cubic feet per minute (scf/min) of landfill gas into RNG—three times the size of Archaea’s Indiana plant. The RNG produced will be capable of heating up to 38,000 homes annually, the press release said, citing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Landfill Gas Energy Benefits Calculator.

The plant’s Archaea modular design allowed the plant to be built faster with skids and interchangeable parts than custom RNG plants. With the modular design, plants can be built for three different capacities—3,200 scf/min, 6,400 scf/min and 9,600 scf/min.

After purchasing Archaea Energy in 2022, BP became the largest RNG producer in the U.S. The integrated energy company’s global biogas volumes went up by 80% year-over-year in 2023, according to the company’s press release.