Viridi building Renewable Natural Gas plant atop closed Landfill in Wisconsin
U.S.-based renewable natural gas (RNG) platform Viridi Energy has started construction on a landfill RNG project in Ringle, Wisconsin, in partnership with the Marathon County.
The project, sited at a landfill belonging to the county’s solid waste department, will convert landfill gas into clean RNG, equivalent to over three million gallons of gasoline per year, Viridi says.
It represents one of the first landfill projects for Viridi, which launched last year with the financial support of Green Rock Energy Partners and Warburg Pincus. The project will see a dormant biogas-to-energy project converted into a modern RNG facility, the company adds.
Upon completion, Viridi will deliver clean energy to its offtake partners, including the transportation market and long-term buyers of RNG.
The project is also expected to have a direct and positive environmental impact on the local community in Marathon County by reducing the need for on-site emissions mitigation, the company says. Landfill waste emits high levels of methane gas, considered by environmental experts to be multiple times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
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Convering closed landfills to renewable energy projects is gaining momentum in the U.S. Recent announcements on landfill solar or RNG projects include companies such as Coast Energy, Duke Energy, Puget Sound Energy and OPAL Fuels, among others.
“As the transition away from fossil fuels accelerates, our Marathon County project showcases how waste-to-energy projects can be a win-win-win,” said Dan Crouse, Chief Executive Officer of Viridi. “We are reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the county’s landfill, converting that landfill gas into clean RNG, and replacing the need for fossil fuel-derived natural gas in the process.”
Viridi is a New York-based company that is developing a platform to build, own and operate RNG assets with landfill, dairy, and food waste feedstocks across North America.