This week, construction crews began site preparation and excavation, after which they will pour the cement foundation and then install and connect process equipment. The biogas cleanup unit will be co-located at the Aemetis advanced ethanol plant in Keyes, California, and will be directly connected to the PG&E natural gas pipeline. The company plans to build 32 additional miles of biogas pipeline that will connect over 30 dairies to the gas cleanup unit and utility pipeline.
“The $12 million biogas cleanup and compression unit is scheduled to be operational by Q4 2021 to generate utility pipeline quality Renewable Natural Gas,” stated Andy Foster, President of Aemetis Biogas. “Since September 2020, the first two dairies in the Aemetis Biogas Central Dairy Digester Project have been operating, supplying biogas via a four-mile Aemetis-owned pipeline that is processed through a boiler system to produce heat and power for the Keyes ethanol plant. The new biogas cleanup and compression unit will allow us to supply fuel for trucks and other natural gas vehicles throughout California by injecting RNG into the utility gas pipeline, and via an onsite RNG fueling station being built at the Aemetis Keyes plant.”
“Beginning construction of the biogas cleanup and compression unit is a significant milestone that will process the biogas delivered by the recently permitted 35-mile biogas pipeline,” said Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “The negative carbon intensity RNG to be produced by the biogas cleanup unit is scheduled to fuel trucks that deliver animal feed products from our ethanol plant to about 80 local diaries, and biofuel throughout California. Our ability to fuel trucks with -426 carbon intensity RNG is a sustainable operating advantage for dairies and other members of the Aemetis network.”
In addition to the two operating dairies, the next phase of the Aemetis Biogas Central Dairy Project is scheduled to complete an additional 15 dairy digesters and 32 miles of pressurized biogas pipeline by the end of Q2 2022, generating an estimated 440,000 MMBtu per year of biogas.
