This is the latest installment in Waste Dive’s Biogas Monthly series.
Ares Management is launching a new renewable natural gas platform named Sagepoint Energy, bringing together several growing assets with a plan for expansion.
The business is a combination of Dynamic Renewables and BC Organics, in which Ares purchased a majority stake in 2023, and National Organics, a logistics platform launched under Ares in 2024.
Aaron Johnson, a veteran of the renewable natural gas space and no stranger to the world of private capital, is Sagepoint's CEO. He's been the CEO of Dynamic since December 2023. He previously led RNG developer Kinetrex Energy, and became president of RNG for Kinder Morgan after the energy infrastructure company acquired Kinetrex in 2021.
Sagepoint plans to hit the ground running with acquisitions, according to Johnson.
“Honestly, I don't intend to slow down here,” he said. “We've assembled the team for it and we're executing fairly quickly on it.”
Less than two weeks after the combination was announced, Sagepoint announced the acquisition of Lynx Renewable Energy Kansas and Renewable Power Producers. The two each operate a landfill-gas-to-RNG asset, and Sagepoint plans to immediately expand Lynx's facility at the Plumb Thicket Landfill in Harper, Kansas.
The centerpiece of the combined company is its other RNG-producing facility, BC Organics. The site uses 16 digester tanks to process about one million gallons of manure per day. National Organics, the logistics network spearheaded by Johnson at Ares, operates dozens of trucks between several dairy farms in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, area and the BC Organics facility. It also receives 40% of its feedstock via pipeline, returning nutrient-rich water to farms for reuse.
The company is planning to continue growing its portfolio of landfill projects. Johnson said that's in part to balance against the dairy exposure Sagepoint already has — he noted a lack of clarity regarding federal tax credits and California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard update make that business a bit riskier at the moment.
"We have quite a few, candidly, projects that we’ve grandfathered and done some of the initial construction, but to push forward on some of those dairy projects, we’ll definitely need clarification from [the California Air Resources Board,]" Johnson said.
Sagepoint is also exploring the possibility of codigesting other kinds of organic waste in its facilities. Johnson said he’s learned to operate with an “all-of-the-above strategy” in the RNG space over the years, and will carry out that philosophy at Sagepoint.
“Ares is very prolific in this area, and I think for us we are very bullish,” Johnson said.
Opal Fuels increases RNG output 41% in 2024
Opal Fuels commissioned three landfill-gas-to-RNG projects last year, increasing its RNG output 41% to 3.8 million mmBtus, it announced in its full-year earnings release. Full-year revenue also improved 17% year over year to about $300 million, the company reported.
“2024 was a solid year for OPAL Fuels, we made strong progress on our operational and strategic objectives and have positioned the company for continued success this year and for many years to come,” Adam Comora, co-CEO of OPAL Fuels, said in a statement.
Last year, Opal reported owning and operating 26 total projects, including 11 which produce RNG and 15 which produce “renewable power.” Of its RNG projects, two use dairy biogas and the rest use landfill gas. The company can generate up to 8.8 million mmBtus of RNG through its existing portfolio.
The company also reported six RNG projects in construction, with the possibility to convert more of its power-generating sites to RNG in the future.
California Public Utilities Commission OKs first RNG procurement contract
SoCalGas has received approval from the California PUC for a contract with Organic Energy Solutions to receive RNG made from organic waste, the gas utility announced in March. It's the first contract approved by the commission under SB 1440, which sets short- and medium-term targets for investor-owned gas utilities to procure RNG.
The law, passed in 2022, was designed to support California's short-lived climate pollutant law, SB 1383, by setting up a market for the gas produced by processing organic waste. SB 1440 does not allow for dairy biomethane to be used, since such projects can already benefit from the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
The commission set a target for investor-owned utilities to procure about 17.6 billion cubic feet of RNG annually by 2025, or the biomethane from about 8 million tons of organic waste. It set a further goal for utilities to displace about 12.2% of fossil natural gas with RNG by 2030.
Organics Energy Solutions' project will be located in San Bernardino. It's expected to begin supplying RNG in the second half of 2026.
EnviTec Biogas commissions largest U.S. plant to date
EnviTec completed its fifth project in partnership with SJI Renewable Energy Ventures, a large dairy digestion plant in South Dakota. The 177,000 mmBtu system processes 300,000 gallons of manure a day.
SJI and EnviTec are planning a portfolio of 15 total projects. Three others are currently ramping up production, including EnviTec's first Minnesota facility, per a release.
EnviTec also touted its supply chain, noting the concrete tanks for its digester plants are manufactured locally. Germany-based EnviTec has built more than 700 biogas plants since 2002 across 18 countries.
Nexus W2V breaks ground on first RNG facility
Nexus W2V began construction on an anaerobic digestion facility that will accept packaged food and other organic materials in La Porte, Indiana, in March. The facility is the company's first.
The site is part of a $140 million plan for Nexus to break into waste-to-value development. It comes after a $75 million structured equity investment from Orion Infrastructure Capital.
The Kingsbury Bioenergy Complex in La Porte is expected to support "dozens" of long-term positions once complete, per a release. It's scheduled to begin operations in late 2026.
Nexus W2V is part of a family of companies based in Texas that offer wraparound waste-to-value services. It started in Texas in 2013 as an advisory firm, but expanded to include engineering and technical services. In 2023, Nexus received its first outside investment — a $50 million growth equity round backed by an affiliate of Greenbacker Capital Management, Ontario Power Generation Pension Fund and Liberty Mutual Insurance.
