LNG

Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the US producer of natural gas make from waste, said its latest facility at Victory Farms Dairy in South Dakota has successfully completed construction and is injecting pipeline-quality gas into the interstate natural gas infrastructure.

The Victory Farms two-digester facility is utilizing the manure of 6,000 Jersey cows, which could process approximately 120,000 gallons of manure each day to produce an estimated 900,000 gallons of negative carbon-intensity Renewable Natural gas (RNG) annually.

The RNG produced at the facility in Revillo, South Dakota, will find its way to Clean Energy’s fueling network, helping commercial fleets reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions significantly and immediately.

Clean Energy currently operates over 600 fuel stations around North America that provide fuel and services to customers.

Logistics customers

Its fixed customer bases includes some of the largest logistics operators like UPS and Amazon, many transit agencies including those in New York City and Los Angeles, and dozens of waste companies including WM, Republic Services and Waste Connections.

Developed in partnership with Dynamic Renewables and financed through one of Clean Energy’s production joint ventures, the construction costs of the RNG facility in South Dakota, including the build of the manure collection facility, digestors and the processing plant, totalled around $26 million.

Clean Energy, which is based in Newport Beach, California, said it was also in the process of filing the necessary applications to generate federal and state environmental credits.

“We are committed to working with dairies to bring more RNG into the market,” said Clay Corbus, senior Vice President of Renewables at Clean Energy

“Projects like Victory Farms will provide us the fuel to help decarbonize heavy-duty transportation while simultaneously providing an additional revenue stream for dairy owners and helping with their waste management,” Corbus explained.

“With fleets quickly learning that RNG is a proven solution readily available now, it is perfect timing that Victory Farms and the other dairy facilities are coming online to meet the growing demand,” Corbus stated.

GHG emissions

Agriculture accounts for nearly 10 percent of US GHG emissions and the transportation sector accounts for another 28 percent, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Capturing methane from farm waste lowers these emissions and RNG produced by that captured methane and used as a transportation fuel, significantly lowers GHG emissions on a lifecycle basis when compared to diesel fuel.

This allows RNG to be one of the only fuels to receive a negative carbon-intensity score based on the reduction of emissions at the source and at the vehicle.

“Victory Farms is part of an industry that is uniquely positioned to have the opportunity to produce such a sustainable and valuable by-product from everyday waste,” said the owners of Victory Farms. 


“We are incredibly proud of what we are doing here, and that we’ve been able to partner with Clean Energy to help create a healthier planet,” they added.

April 3 (LNGJ) - Biogest America Inc. has signed a letter of intent for the joint development and financing of a Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) project in Quebec making gas from waste in the Canadian province’s Saint-Nazaire d’Acton area. The company said the venture marked Canada’s first Biogest RNG project and a pivotal moment in the commitment to advancing green-gas initiatives in Quebec.

   The plant planned for Saint-Nazaire d’Acton is expected to produce 105,000 million British thermal units (350 cubic metres per hour) of RNG. “During fermentation, the waste is transformed into high-quality organic fertilizer that substitutes for chemical products. The new project will introduce a novel concept by integrating biochar production. This dual-purpose approach improves RNG production and contributes to sustainable organic waste management,” said Biogest.

Stonepeak, the New York-based investment and asset management firm, has given a $300 million loan to California-based company Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the operator of one of America’s largest natural gas fuelling station networks.

The loan to Clean Energy Fuels, listed on the Nasdaq global exchange, is in the form of a senior secured term loan for a six-year period and will help with expansion plans.

“In addition to repaying existing loans, the financing from Stonepeak will provide Clean Energy with capital for new renewable natural gas (RNG) production facilities, as well as the expansion of the company’s fuelling infrastructure targeting the heavy-duty truck market,” said Clean Energy, based in Newport Beach, California.

The company currently provides RNG made from waste in the form of LNG and compressed natural gas (CNG) to hundreds of vehicle fleets every day.

Timely loan

“Stonepeak is one of the most well-respected infrastructure investment firms operating in the energy transition space and we’re excited to partner with them as we grow our RNG business,” said Clay Corbus, Senior Vice President for strategic development at Clean Energy.

“This financing agreement is very timely as we continue to see more RNG development opportunities come our way, and as we anticipate building additional stations to accommodate increased demand due to the arrival of the Cummins 15-liter natural gas engine,” the company explained.

Stonepeak, which has around $58 billion under management, said it regards RNG as a “practical and affordable energy solution for the transportation sector” and with good tailwinds.

“This, combined with its ability to curb fugitive methane emissions, makes it a critical part of decarbonization infrastructure, in our view,” said Michael Bricker, Senior Managing Director at Stonepeak.

“With its proven asset base and operating history, we believe that Clean Energy has differentiated itself both within this space and relative to earlier stage verticals and other platforms pursuing the energy transition. We look forward to partnering with the Clean Energy team in supporting the company’s next phase of growth,” Bricker explained.

Texas RNG

Clean Energy noted that it was currently developing a portfolio of RNG production facilities at dairy farms across the country.

The first project is producing RNG in Texas and supplying it to the transportation market in Oregon through the state’s low-carbon fuels program.

Clean Energy is also expanding its RNG fuelling infrastructure, which currently includes over 600 stations across North America.

This comes at a time when engine-maker Cummins Inc. is testing a new larger natural gas engine for heavy-duty trucks with companies like Walmart, Werner, Knight Swift and UPS.

“These fleets are experiencing an improved fuel economy with more torque and power than previous models, while at the same time dramatically reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) and NOx emissions compared to diesel,” said the company.

“The 2024 commercial launch of the Cummins X15N engine is much anticipated by the industry,” it added.

The Stonepeak term-loan bears interest at 9.5 percent per annum. During the first two years, Clean Energy may elect to pay up to 75 percent of the interest in kind.

“In connection with this transaction, Clean Energy issued warrants to Stonepeak for the purchase of 10 million shares of common stock with an exercise price of $5.50 per share and 10 million shares of common stock with an exercise price of $6.50 per share,” said Clean Energy.

“The warrants expire on June 15, 2032 and are exercisable at any time after December 12, 2025,” the company added.

Cedigaz, the French international natural gas body, said the biogas industry, which can deliver gas made from waste as liquefied natural gas, as pipeline gas or as fuel for filling stations, experienced growth of 23 percent in 2022.

Shell Petroleum NV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, has completed the $2 billion acquisition of Europe’s largest renewable natural gas (RNG) company, Nature Energy Biogas.

Based in Denmark, Nature Energy is a producer of RNG from agricultural, industrial and household waste.

Shell has now completed the takeover from the previous owners who were three equity and pension funds, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP, Pioneer Point Partners and Sampension.

“By purchasing the shares in Nature Energy, Shell has acquired the largest producer of RNG in Europe, its portfolio of operating plants, associated feedstock supply and infrastructure,” said Shell.

“We also acquire its pipeline of growth projects and its in-house expertise in the design, construction, and operation of innovative and differentiated RNG plant technology,” added Shell.

Value chain

Shell said the acquisition supported Shell’s ambitions to build an integrated RNG value chain at global scale and to profitably grow its low-carbon offerings to customers across multiple sectors.

Nature Energy will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell, initially under its existing brand.

Shell said Nature Energy would now add a European production platform and growth pipeline to Shell’s existing RNG projects in the United States.

The Danish company will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell, initially under its existing brand.

Shell noted that Nature Energy was founded in 1979 as a natural gas distributor.

The company established its first biogas plant in Denmark in 2015 and now has 14 operating plants with associated infrastructure, feedstock arrangements and current production of around 6.5 million MMBtu per annum.

The company also has a line of around 30 new plant projects in Europe and North America.

More than a third of these projects are in medium to late development stage in Denmark, the Netherlands and France and can deliver up to 9.2M MMBtu per year.

Shell Petroleum NV, a subsidiary of Shell plc, has agreed to pay $2 billion to acquire Europe’s largest renewable natural gas (RNG) company, Nature Energy Biogas.

UK major BP has agreed to acquire Archaea Energy of Houston in Texas for $4.1 billion, comprising $3.3Bln in cash as well as around $800 million of net debt, to increase its presence in the bio-natural gas fuel sector.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the California-based supplier of liquefied natural gas made from waste and with 540 filling stations across the US and Canada, is expanding its production and supplies of transportation fuel to trucking fleets, city buses and refuse trucks across America.

Kinder Morgan Inc., the leading US pipeline company and LNG export plant stakeholder, has agreed to acquire the Kinetrex company, a leading supplier of liquefied natural gas in the Midwest and a growing player in producing and supplying renewable natural gas (RNG) made from waste.