NYSEARCH Project T-789: RNG Interconnect Database

Fig. 1: Screenshot from RNG Interconnect Cost Estimation Spreadsheet Tool

Fig. 2: RNG Skid Piping & Instrumentation Diagram

Fig. 3: RNG Skid 3-D CAD Image included in project deliverables

NYSEARCH has successfully pioneered a digital database that provides utility companies with the ability to use a common framework to select an optimal design for renewable natural gas (RNG) interconnection skids for their respective systems, thereby standardizing and streamlining the interconnect process while reducing capital costs for those utilities looking to engage producers, inject, and transport RNG.

As interest in the decarbonization of energy increases, many natural gas utilities are investigating the possibility of injecting renewable natural gas (RNG) into their distribution networks to reduce their carbon impact on the environment. Through the collaborative efforts of the consortium, NYSEARCH has pioneered a digital database to provide a common framework on RNG interconnection which will allow utilities to select an optimal design for their respective systems as they inject and transport RNG. This database serves as a valuable resource for utility companies who are just beginning to engage with RNG producers and to those who have well established relationships with producers and can streamline and reduce capital costs of the interconnection process.

Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) can be captured and upgraded from wastewater treatment plants, dairy farms, landfills, and power-to-gas (P2G) units, blending hydrogen (H2) into natural gas pipelines, and generating gas from direct carbon capture or from woody biomass via gasification and pyrolysis. This NYSEARCH project allows economies of scale to be realized through the standardization of skid design and its components such as instrumentation, measurement, regulation, gas quality analysis, and associated manufacturing processes with respect to the production of RNG interconnection skids. Also, this plug-and-play approach and digital database will allow utilities to develop an interconnect skid that best fits their needs while minimizing costs.

About NYSEARCH

For more than thirty years, NYSEARCH has worked as a consortium of natural gas Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) who have a common interest and need for research and technology development and demonstration. Today, as part of the Northeast Gas Association (NGA), NYSEARCH manages over (30) projects in various stages of development for LDCs, transmission companies, federal agencies and their manufacturing and commercial partners. NYSEARCH is located in Parsippany, NJ and NGA is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts.