LAS VEGAS, Jan. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 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. (TSE: ANRG) and North Sky
Capital to bring RNG to market via a Public-Private Partnership
(P3).
"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.
About Southwest Gas
Celebrating 90 years of providing clean, affordable natural gas
service, Southwest Gas Corporation proudly serves over 2 million
customers in Arizona, California and Nevada with clean and affordable natural gas,
safely and reliably. For more information about Southwest Gas,
please visit www.swgas.com.
About Anergia
Anaergia was created to eliminate a major source of greenhouse
gases by cost effectively turning organic waste into renewable
natural gas ("RNG"), fertilizer and water, using proprietary
technologies. With a proven track record from delivering world
leading projects on four continents, Anaergia is uniquely
positioned to provide end-to-end solutions for extracting organics
from waste, implementing high efficiency anaerobic digestion,
upgrading biogas, producing fertilizer and cleaning water. Our
customers are in the municipal solid waste, municipal wastewater,
agriculture, and food processing industries. In each of these
markets Anaergia has built many successful plants including some of
the largest in the world. Anaergia owns and operates some of the
plants it builds, and it also operates plants that are owned by its
customers.
About VVWRA
VVWRA is a regional resource recovery agency that provides
wastewater treatment services and recycled water for Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville, Spring
Valley Lake and Oro
Grande.
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SOURCE Southwest Gas Corporation