January 22, 2022. 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 (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.”