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A subsidiary of London oil giant BP is looking to transform a 35-year-old dormant landfill near the Irvine-Newport Beach border into a renewable natural gas facility.
Houston-based Archaea Energy has submitted plans to Newport Beach to build the energy plant at 20662 Newport Coast Drive, the site of the former Coyote Canyon Landfill, which operated in Newport Beach from 1963 to 1990. The facility, located just south of the University of California, Irvine, would convert landfill emissions into renewable natural gas.
Future use remains uncertain as Newport Beach officials weigh the proposal. The Planning Commission was expected to review the plans on May 22, but the meeting was canceled.
Newport Beach city staff confirmed Archaea’s proposal would be considered at a future meeting. The proposed renewable natural gas facility, near Sage High School in Newport Beach, would also be considered by the Newport Beach City Council, should planning commissioners recommend the project.
The Coyote Canyon Site
Archaea’s proposal, broadly speaking, would use the Coyote Canyon Landfill to treat landfill gas and, according to the city of Newport Beach, “create usable fuel which will be injected into existing Southern California infrastructure.”
Landfill gas at the site is currently being treated and flared off, according to the city of Newport Beach.
Public documents about the proposed conversion of Coyote Canyon Landfill into a renewable energy site shows Archaea Energy seeks to develop the 4.14-acre property into a processing plant.
The renewable natural gas plant would be 38,500 square feet in size and would be comprised of pipe racks, vessels, condensate tank, thermal oxidizer, flare and other processing equipment.
Other components of the site include water and septic tanks, underground power and telecommunications lines and vehicular access.
The treatment of landfill gas, as proposed by Archaea, starts at an existing flaring facility that is operated by Orange County Waste and Recycling. The treated landfill gas would then travel through an underground supply line, part of the new renewable natural gas facility, for what public documents describe as “secondary and advanced treatment.”
“The treated landfill gas would then be injected into SoCalGas infrastructure in the western part of the site via the proposed 6,000-square-foot pipeline interconnection facility,” according to a public document shared by the state as part of the California Environmental Quality Act. “The interconnection facility would include a point of receipt skid to monitor the quality of the renewable natural gas and an 8-inch pipeline extension dedicated to transfer the renewable natural gas from the point of receipt to the existing fossil natural gas pipeline tie-in point.”
BP and Archaea Energy
Archaea Energy was acquired by BP in 2022 and specializes in the development, construction and operation of renewable natural gas, landfill-gas-to-electric and dairy digester facilities, each with the mission of converting waste into renewable natural gas or electricity.
The renewable natural gas producer operates facilities in 32 states, including California, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Archaea started nine renewable natural gas plants since 2024. BP spent more than $6 billion — about 40% of the company’s global capital investment budget — in the United States last year.
BP said it became the largest renewable natural gas producer in the United States when it purchased Archaea in 2022, but the British oil and gas company has been providing clean energy for California’s transportation fuel sites since 2012.
CORRECTIONS:
Il Barone took over the former Cucina Alessa restaurant space at 6700 West Coast Highway in Newport Beach. In the June 2 dining column, the Business Journal wrongly stated that Il Barone took over Alessa by Chef Pirozzi. Chef Alessandro Pirozzi has not been affiliated with this Alessa by Chef Pirozzi in Laguna Beach is not out out of business. Newport Beach restaurant for 15 years. The Business Journal regrets the error.