Archer Western Construction will build a waste-to-energy facility for Synthica Energy in San Antonio with the capacity to process up to 250,000 tons of industrial organic waste into renewable natural gas (RNG) annually.
In announcing its limited notice to proceed from San Antonio, Archer Western says it was initially selected to provide preliminary services support, including design and constructability review, cost estimating, value engineering, ‘evaluation of alternative means and methods of construction, procurement support and optimization of the construction schedule.
Synthica’s facility in San Antonio will process pre-consumer food and industrial organic waste using anaerobic digestion treatment processes, generating biogas that will be converted to GNR. Using up to 250,000 tonnes of waste, the company projects to create 400,000 MMBtu (million British thermal units) of pipeline-grade GNR each year.
The facility will accept products such as expired and damaged products, by-products of biodiesel production, spent yeast and high-concentration wastewater. The $50 million project will begin this year and begin production in the first quarter of 2026.
The GNR produced at the facility will be injected into a nearby pipeline, displacing the use of fossil fuels, according to Archer Western’s announcement.
Synthica is also developing a $50 million project in Atlanta that began earlier this month that is also expected to accept 250,000 tons of tailings per year for production of 400,000 MMBtu of RNG. This facility is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The project of the plant of St. The company’s Bernard near Cincinnati, also valued at $50 million, is under construction and will open in early 2025, with a processing capacity of 190,000 tons of waste per year. Another project, in Houston, is in the permitting phase, and is scheduled for groundbreaking in early 2025 and early 2026.
Craig Thompson, Synthica’s technical director of the project, says in a statement that Archer Western helped the company make crucial design decisions and maximize project value during the pre-construction phase.
“Their exceptional experience in the water and wastewater industry, and their superior position in the San Antonio market, made them the ideal partner for us on this project,” he says.
