TotalEnergies, Vanguard to begin construction of new farm-based renewable natgas project

TotalEnergies recently broke ground on the Oakmulgee Dairy Farm renewable natural gas (RNG) project in Amelia Court House, Virginia,  with its joint venture partner Vanguard Renewables, a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock.  The facility will generate over 259,000 MMBtu/year of renewable gas using an anaerobic digester, diverting more than 105,000 tons of food waste from landfills. The RNG produced will supply fuel for AstraZeneca’s biopharmaceutical facilities in Maryland.

In April 2024, TotalEnergies and Vanguard Renewables formed a 50-50 joint venture to develop RNG projects across the US, with ten projects currently under construction, targeting a total annual capacity of 0.8 TWh. The partnership aims to invest in a pipeline of about 60 additional projects nationwide.

Marc de Lataillade, Vice President of Biogas at TotalEnergies, conveyed its role in advancing food waste processing into renewable natural gas. Neil H. Smith, CEO of Vanguard Renewables, noted the project’s potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create sustainable energy from food waste and dairy manure.