Vanguard Renewables breaks ground on Virginia RNG project

Vanguard Renewables, a portfolio company of BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, broke ground October 23 on its latest farm-based renewable natural gas (RNG) project at the family-owned Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Virginia.

The project will have the capacity to produce 259,000mn Btu/year of RNG and divert more than 105,000 tons/year of food and beverage waste from landfills or incineration.

The project is part of a joint venture between Vanguard Renewables and French major TotalEnergies that plans to develop, build and operate farm-based RNG facilities across the US.

“By converting inedible and unsalable food and beverage waste and dairy cow manure into renewable gas, we are not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions and repurposing methane for good, but also creating a sustainable energy source that benefits both the environment and local communities,” Vanguard Renewables CEO Neil H. Smith said.

Biogas produced in the Oakmulgee farm’s anaerobic digester will be upgraded on-site and injected into the existing US natural gas grid, furthering TotalEnergies’ ambition to work with Vanguard Renewables to accelerate the development of RNG in the US.

“This project in Virginia, and two others currently under construction in Wisconsin and Minnesota, are part of a promising potential pipeline of projects that will support TotalEnergies’ ambition to be a leader in the fast-growing renewable gas market,” said Marc de Lataillade, vice president, biogas at TotalEnergies.

Vanguard Renewables has seven operational facilities in the US and three more under construction and plans to begin construction on multiple additional sites by the end of the year. It hopes to have more than 100 anaerobic digestion facilities by 2028.