Vespene Energy invited by DOE to apply for Part II of loan guarantee program

In Iowa, Vespene Energy has been invited by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to submit a Part II application for a loan guarantee through the Loan Programs Office’s (LPO) Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program for $420 million to support the development of distributed biogas to electricity plants at 50 municipal landfills in 21 states.  

Dubbed “Project Pleiades,” the project is a collaboration between Vespene Energy, Mainspring Energy, and Bridge to Renewables (BTR) to support deep decarbonization across the solid waste and transportation sectors by using energy created from landfill biogas to charge electric vehicles. Through the capture and utilization of methane, the main component of biogas, Project Pleiades will generate 80 MW of dispatchable baseload renewable electricity for use in EV charging. Project Pleiades will be carbon-negative – achieving a net emissions reduction of over 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year in aggregate across all 50 landfills.  The biogas captured by Vespene will also generate revenue for participating landfills, monetizing what is otherwise a liability for landfill operators.