Southwest Gas announced the completion of a pipeline interconnection to supply Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) from the Victor Valley Waste Wastewater Reclamation Authority (VVWRA) in San Bernardino County, California to its natural gas distribution system.
As part of its continuous efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Southwest Gas is partnering with SoCal Biomethane, a subsidiary of Anaergia Inc. and North Sky Capital to bring RNG to market via a Public-Private Partnership.
"Southwest Gas is proud to partner with Anaergia's subsidiary, SoCal Biomethane, and VVWRA on this project.
This is an important step in Southwest Gas' efforts to provide more renewable energy to our customers," said John Hester, President and CEO of Southwest Gas. "We look forward to doing more projects like this as we continue pursuing our goal to keep natural gas service as a key player in achieving aggressive carbon emission reduction goals for decades to come."
Anaergia's subsidiary will upgrade raw biogas made from anaerobically digesting food waste along with organic material from VVWRA's wastewater treatment process, creating pipeline quality RNG. That RNG is expected to be injected into the Southwest Gas system later this month. Once fully in production, the facility could divert more than 6,000 metric tons of methane, which is equivalent to 1.5 million CO2 tons, per year.
"VVWRA is committed to protecting public health and the environment in the Victor Valley, and this partnership reflects our three core values: collaboration, dedication, and integrity," said VVWRA General Manager Darron Poulsen. "This public private partnership with Anaergia's subsidiary has allowed VVWRA to benefit from private financing, reduced the timeline for project delivery and leveraged industry technology and RNG expertise. The project provides operational and capacity resiliency for the future of VVWRA by improving our infrastructure with greater operational flexibility and increased digester redundancy and capacity needed for future growth, while benefiting the agency economically."
"This collaborative project shows how Anaergia can convert wastewater treatment facilities into resource recovery centers in California and beyond, offering a cost-effective solution for municipalities who want to use their food waste to create renewable energy," said Yaniv Scherson, Chief Operating Officer of Anaergia. "Anaergia's patented technologies tripled this facility's digestion capacity without building new tanks, allowing VVWRA to take food waste for co-digestion and make carbon-negative renewable energy. We are extremely proud to work with VVWRA, Southwest Gas and North Sky Capital on this successful P3 project."
RNG is a renewable source of energy like wind and solar power. It is captured when organic waste from wastewater treatment facilities and dairies is broken down inside of biodigesters. The process captures the biogas that is emitted within the digester, preventing it from rising into the atmosphere. This biogas is cleaned to pipeline standards and injected into the Southwest Gas system for delivery to end users. One main advantage of RNG is that natural gas customers can continue using their existing appliances to reap further environmental benefits. The innovative use of this energy can help businesses, communities and the transportation industry meet their emissions-reduction goals with carbon-neutral solutions.
