Fortistar, a privately owned investment firm, and Paloma Dairy have started to construct a dairy digester renewable natural gas (RNG) facility, the Sunoma Renewable Biofuel Project.
The new facility will produce 1.6 million gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) of vehicle fuel annually for the Class 8 trucking sector – enough fuel to move 10 million miles of freight.
In addition to the significant community environmental benefits and cost savings for the fleets that use the fuel, the project will boost the local economy, with 50 construction jobs and six permanent positions in Gila Bend, Ariz. This project continues an aggressive renewable fuels growth strategy at Fortistar designed to help businesses and public agencies dramatically reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with a solution that also saves them money.
TruStar Energy, a Fortistar portfolio company and developer of natural gas fueling stations, will market and deliver the RNG fuel.
“This project will help provide solutions for two important U.S. industries. We are using our expertise to create new revenue streams for dairies while capturing methane and repurposing it to decarbonize the transportation sector,” says Mark Comora, president of Fortistar.
Montrose Water and Sustainability Services, a division of Montrose Environmental Group, completed design and engineering for the project, as well as equipment procurement. Montrose’s subject matter experts will provide construction oversight, along with startup and commissioning support for the project. Industrial Services Co. (ISC) will lead the building of the system.
The project will be interconnected with Southwest Gas Co., which will also purchase the gas. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits will be sold to Chevron under a long-term agreement. Initial project development was performed by Black Bear Environmental Assets Advisors. Financing was provided by Live Oak Bank.
The Sunoma Renewable Biofuels Project is the third of 12 new RNG projects totaling nearly $500 million in capital that Fortistar expects to begin over the next year. These new projects will help produce 120 million GGE of RNG over the next three years.
Photo: Paloma Dairy’s landing page
