Vanguard Renewables

Vanguard Renewables is a pioneering company in the renewable energy sector, specializing in converting organic waste from the food and beverage industry, along with dairy farm manure, into renewable natural gas (RNG) through anaerobic digestion. Their proprietary "Farm Powered" process harnesses the energy from inedible food waste and dairy cow manure, capturing up to 95% of potential greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.

Founded in 2014, Vanguard Renewables has experienced rapid growth, expanding from two facilities in its inaugural year to 32 sites across eight states by March 2024. The company aims to have more than 100 anaerobic digestion facilities operational by the end of 2028, solidifying its position as a national leader in this field. Their innovative approach not only diverts organic waste from landfills and incineration but also supports regenerative agriculture practices by providing nutrient-rich fertilizers as byproducts to partner farms.

Vanguard Renewables' anaerobic digestion process produces biogas, which is upgraded to pipeline-quality RNG and injected directly into existing natural gas infrastructure, serving as a drop-in replacement for fossil-derived natural gas. This cost-effective decarbonization solution requires no incremental capital investment from clients and can have an immediate impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

As of March 2024, Vanguard Renewables has secured several notable partnerships, including a transformative agreement with AstraZeneca to replace all of the pharmaceutical company's fossil natural gas needs across its US sites with Vanguard's Farm Powered RNG by 2026. Additionally, in April 2024, Vanguard Renewables announced a joint venture with TotalEnergies, aiming to develop and operate Farm Powered RNG projects across the US, with plans to advance 10 projects into construction within the next 12 months.

Through strategic alliances like the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, launched in 2020 with Starbucks, Unilever, and Dairy Farmers of America, Vanguard Renewables enables its partners to significantly reduce their carbon footprint and make substantial progress toward their sustainability goals by utilizing RNG derived from recycling organic materials.

Key customers and partnerships

In June 2023, Vanguard Renewables entered into a groundbreaking partnership with AstraZeneca, marking the largest open market RNG deal in the US to date. By the end of 2026, this collaboration will enable the delivery of up to 190,500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of RNG per year, equivalent to the energy required to heat more than 17,800 US homes annually. Vanguard Renewables is currently providing RNG to meet the thermal load at AstraZeneca's Newark, Delaware site, with additional sites to be added as the company's farm-based projects are completed.

In April 2024, Vanguard Renewables formed a joint venture with TotalEnergies, a global integrated energy company, to develop, build, and operate Farm Powered RNG projects across the US. The joint venture aims to advance 10 RNG projects into construction within the next 12 months, with a total annual capacity of 0.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) or 2.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf). The initial three projects under this agreement, currently under construction in Wisconsin and Virginia, each have a unit capacity of nearly 75 gigawatt-hours (GWh) or 0.25 Bcf of RNG per year.