Viridi Energy Secures Key HASI Investment to Fuel RNG Revolution

By Sharon Henderson

NEW YORK, NY – March 11, 2026 – In a significant move that underscores growing investor confidence in the renewable natural gas (RNG) market, Viridi Energy has closed a major structured equity investment from Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI) to advance its Marathon landfill gas (LFG) project in Wisconsin. The deal, announced today, marks the third time HASI has invested in Viridi’s portfolio, solidifying a strategic partnership aimed at converting harmful landfill emissions into a valuable clean energy source.

Viridi Energy, a portfolio company of investment giants Warburg Pincus and Green Rock Energy Partners, is a key player in the development of RNG assets across North America. This latest financing from HASI, a leading investor in climate solutions, is designed to inject critical capital into the development of the Marathon facility. Once operational, the project is projected to capture landfill gas and upgrade it to pipeline-quality RNG, a direct replacement for fossil natural gas.

“Viridi is excited to expand its partnership with HASI through a structured equity investment which accelerates capital to Viridi and provides liquidity for continued project development,” said Dan Crouse, CEO of Viridi Energy, in a statement. The investment highlights a crucial trend in the renewables sector: the deployment of sophisticated financial tools to build out the complex infrastructure needed for the energy transition.

The New Architecture of Green Financing

This transaction is more than a simple infusion of cash; it represents the increasing importance of 'structured equity' in financing the green economy. Unlike traditional debt or a straightforward purchase of common stock, structured equity is a bespoke financial instrument tailored to the specific needs of a project. It blends the characteristics of debt and equity, offering flexibility for the developer while providing investors with downside protection and a share in the project's success.

For a developer like Viridi, this model provides what its CEO calls “accelerated capital” without necessarily diluting ownership or ceding control in the way a traditional equity sale might. It allows the company to fund the capital-intensive process of building RNG facilities—which involves sophisticated gas capture, purification, and compression technology—while maintaining momentum on other projects in its development pipeline.

For an investor like HASI, which manages over $15 billion in assets dedicated to climate-positive investments, structured equity allows for a customized risk-return profile. It enables the firm to deploy capital into a high-growth sector while building in protections, such as preferred returns or specific cash flow priorities. This model is becoming a go-to strategy for financing assets that have a proven technological basis but require significant upfront investment, making it a perfect fit for the burgeoning RNG industry.

From Waste to Watts: A Climate Solution in Action

The environmental stakes of projects like the Marathon facility are immense. Landfills are a major source of methane, a greenhouse gas that has a global warming potential more than 80 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. LFG-to-RNG facilities provide a dual climate benefit: they capture and destroy this potent methane that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere, and they create a renewable fuel that displaces the need for fossil fuels.

The Marathon facility is projected to deliver substantial environmental benefits. Viridi estimates the project will produce enough renewable natural gas to power approximately 5,800 homes annually. Perhaps more importantly, by capturing and utilizing the landfill gas, the facility is expected to reduce carbon emissions by an amount equivalent to 18,400 tons per year. This is comparable to taking thousands of gasoline-powered cars off the road.

The process is a modern form of alchemy. Gas collection wells are drilled into the landfill to capture the LFG, which is a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, and other trace gases. This raw gas is then piped to a processing plant where it is purified, or 'upgraded,' to remove impurities and CO2. The end result is nearly pure methane, or RNG, which is chemically identical to conventional natural gas and can be injected directly into existing pipeline infrastructure for use in homes, businesses, and transportation.

A Partnership Blueprint for the RNG Boom

The deepening relationship between Viridi and HASI is emblematic of the strategic alliances forming to capitalize on the rapidly expanding RNG market. HASI’s decision to invest for a third time is a powerful vote of confidence in Viridi’s operational expertise and the long-term viability of its RNG projects. The successful execution of such complex financial deals is critical for industry growth.

“This transaction reflects the hard work and dedication of an exceptional group of partners,” noted David Barry, CFO of Viridi Energy. “We thank everyone involved for their diligence, responsiveness, and focus on execution, which allowed us to meet key deadlines and bring this investment to a successful close.”

This partnership is unfolding against the backdrop of a booming RNG sector. Driven by corporate sustainability goals and supportive government policies like the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and Investment Tax Credits (ITCs), the demand for RNG is surging. The RNG Coalition has reported record growth in new facilities in recent years, as companies across the waste, agriculture, and energy sectors race to turn organic waste into a valuable commodity.

However, the industry is not without challenges. Policy uncertainty and the sheer capital intensity of project development remain significant hurdles. This is precisely why the Viridi-HASI partnership serves as a compelling blueprint. It demonstrates how combining specialized operational know-how with innovative and flexible climate-focused capital can create a powerful, repeatable model for scaling the deployment of clean energy infrastructure across the United States.