Ameresco Reaches Mechanical Completion of Landfill Gas to Renewable Natural Gas Plant
Framingham, MA and Houston, TX – January 12, 2021 – Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, today announced that it achieved mechanical completion at its McCarty Road landfill gas to renewable natural gas plant located in Houston, Texas. This facility has a gross nameplate in excess of 1.1 million Dekatherms per year and is capable of processing 4,500 scfm of raw landfill gas.
The Ameresco team broke ground on the project in second quarter of 2020 and reached mechanical completion in early December 2020 while successfully navigating the construction challenges and equipment delays associated with a global pandemic and an active hurricane season.
“We are proud of this innovative partnership because it allows us to utilize a natural byproduct of the landfill to create low-carbon transportation fuels and other forms of renewable energy,” said, Pete Keller, vice president of recycling and sustainability at Republic Services, which owns and operates McCarty Road Landfill. “Last year, Republic Services set a long-term sustainability goal to send 50 percent more landfill gas to beneficial reuse by 2030. This project not only creates additional clean energy resources in the regional economy, but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps us meet that goal.”
“This complex renewable natural gas facility was swiftly constructed amidst incredibly challenging conditions due to the steadfast execution by the Ameresco team and project partners,” said Mike Bakas, Executive Vice President of Ameresco. “By leveraging advanced technologies to transform the raw feedstock into a readily available renewable fuel source, clean energy can be made available for the transportation sector. We are fortunate to have partnered with Republic Services on a project that exemplifies the green energy infrastructure of the future.”
This long-term, collaborative partnership will result in a reduction of more than 61,000 tons of CO2, which is equivalent to 103,000 passenger cars removed from the roads, 58 million gallons of gasoline not combusted or 146,000 acres of pine forest conserved every year over the project life.
“As a leading distributor of sustainable energy solutions, we’re honored to work with Ameresco on the McCarty Road Landfill project, taking gas produced to some of the most forward-thinking organizations throughout the nation,” stated Mike Koel, President of U.S. Gain. “Demand for renewable natural gas from the transportation sector has steadily risen for the past several years and we anticipate this to continue into the future because of the positive impact it offers. Organizations using renewable natural gas reduce transportation-related emissions in support of sustainability goals and lower fuel spend thanks to economic benefits like environmental and tax credits. Despite challenges experienced in 2020, we applaud Ameresco on the progress of this landfill project and look forward to future collaboration.”
The project is expected to reach commercial operations in early 2021.
