November 13, 2024. Novilla Investment Holdings, LLC, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Buckhorn RNG LLC, announced today that it has begun operations at its renewable natural gas (RNG) facility at Lynn Brothers Dairy in Unity, WI. The project represents Novilla RNG’s fourth project to reach operations, the second in Wisconsin, and a continuation of its business plan to develop a reasonable number of dairy projects every year.
The project, near Unity, WI will anaerobically digest manure from AlterAg’s Lynn Brothers Dairy and two affiliated dairies for injection of pipeline-quality RNG into WEC’s natural gas network. The RNG will be sold as a low carbon intensity fuel to consumers of natural gas with the potential to be used as vehicle fuel, heating, fuel stock, and a variety of other energy sectors. Initially the project is expected to produce the energy equivalent of nearly 1,000,000 gallons of gasoline per year.
The Buckhorn RNG project joins Three Petals RNG (Berlin, WI), Red Leaf RNG (Saranac, MI), and West Branch RNG (Maurice, IA) in reaching operations in the past year. These projects have exceeded production expectations, with Three Petals and Red Leaf reaching 98% plant on-stream rates in Q3 2024 and West Branch achieving over 90% plant on-stream in its first month of production (September 2024). Since its inception, Novilla RNG has had no OSHA recordable injuries and has maintained compliance with all air permits.
“Building on the success of our first four projects, we are continuing to work with great dairies and build out new projects at a reasonable pace with four new projects coming online in the next 15 months” stated Mark Hill, CO-CEO of Novilla RNG. “Novilla RNG is proud to announce the start of construction of four additional projects coming online in 2025 and 2026”.
- Bellevue RNG at Pleasant Valley Farms in Berkshire, VT
- Five Shot RNG at East River Genetics in Hudson, SD
- Moccasin Creek RNG at Warner Dairy in Warner, SD
- Farmstead RNG at MDS Dairy in Leon, WI
By 2026, Novilla RNG expects to be injecting 1.2 million MMBtu’s a year and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of taking 65,000 cars off the road.
“Our operations and construction teams continue to outperform expectations” commented Jared Williams, CO-CEO of Novilla RNG. “Our projects under construction continue to improve on costs, timing, and overall quality. By originating, permitting, engineering, building, operating, and owning our projects, we ensure continuity of design and build upon lessons learned. Our 36 employees have been delivering on our promises to farmers, customers, and investors”.