Dominion Energy and Smithfield Foods Invest $500 Million to Become Largest Renewable Natural Gas Supplier in US

Dominion Energy and Smithfield Foods, Inc. announced today the companies are doubling their investment in renewable natural gas (RNG) projects across the US to $500 million through 2028. This additional investment will expand their Align Renewable Natural Gas joint venture beyond its initial projects in North Carolina, Virginia, and Utah, to pursue new projects across the country, including in Arizona and California.

Dominion Energy and Smithfield Foods formed Align RNG in November 2018, committing $250 million over 10 years to capture methane from Smithfield’s company-owned and contract hog farms and convert it into clean RNG. With the additional $250 million investment announced today, the companies will produce enough RNG to power more than 70,000 homes and businesses by 2029. Align RNG’s first project in Milford, Utah, will be operational this year and will produce enough RNG to power more than 3,000 local homes and businesses at full capacity.

Methane is produced from a variety of natural sources, including hog manure, food waste and wastewater. When released into the atmosphere, methane emits approximately 25 times more greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. By capturing methane from farms, the development of RNG significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural operations. When fully implemented, the expanded partnership announced today will prevent more than 2.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.

A typical RNG project consists of a cluster of 15 to 20 farms, where methane is captured from covered manure lagoons or digesters and then transported by a low-pressure biogas transmission line to a central conditioning facility. Once the gas is processed to meet pipeline-quality standards, it is then delivered to end users through existing underground pipelines.