Renewable natural gas is scaling faster than most people realize. North America surpassed 500 operational RNG facilities and added a record 130 in 2025 alone (Bioenergy Insight, 2026). Behind each of those facilities is a construction crew that turned an empty pad into a working plant. This is a field breakdown of exactly that: an RNG plant built from the ground up in roughly eight months.

What is a renewable natural gas plant?

An RNG plant captures methane from organic waste and refines it into pipeline-quality gas that is chemically interchangeable with conventional natural gas. That interchangeability is the point: RNG rides the same 3-million-mile pipeline grid that already serves the country (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2022). “We’ve got an RNG plant here that we’ve been building from the ground up,” says Jess Holdroy, the construction superintendent on this project.

The feedstock is waste nobody wants. This facility processes dairy products, recycling, and agricultural waste, then refines it into a clean gas product for sale. It is a practical climate play with a straightforward business case, which helps explain why the sector keeps setting records. You can see how we approach these builds on our renewable energy page.

Why is RNG scaling so quickly?

RNG is growing because the demand for clean, drop-in gas is real and the economics work. Natural gas still generated 43.1% of U.S. utility-scale electricity in 2023 (EIA, 2023), so a renewable version that needs no new pipeline is attractive to utilities and fleets alike. The industry has set a target of 1,000 operational facilities by 2030 (Bioenergy Insight, 2026).

Growth is not evenly spread. Food-waste-to-RNG development led the way in 2025 with operational facilities up 54%, followed by agricultural sites at 31% and municipal solid waste at 26%. Dairy and farm waste, the feedstock for plants like this one, sits right in the fastest-moving part of the market.

The construction side has to keep pace with that demand. Every new facility is a full industrial build, complete with foundations, process equipment, miles of pipe, and a live tie-in to the gas grid. As the sector marches toward its 1,000-facility goal, the contractors who can fabricate steel and pipe under one roof and self-perform the field work are the ones owners can actually schedule around. That capacity, not just enthusiasm for clean energy, is what turns a signed contract into gas flowing down the line.

How do you build an RNG plant from the ground up?

With a record 130 RNG facilities added across North America in 2025 (Bioenergy Insight, 2026), a lot of crews are answering that question right now. You build it in sequence, and it starts underground. “Starting with the foundations up to setting equipment, cable trays, all the electrical,” Holdroy explains. Our teams handled every phase: establishing foundations, setting heavy process equipment, running cable trays, and installing the complete electrical system. Skip a step or sequence it wrong, and the whole schedule slides.

The heavy lifting happens across our civil and mechanical scopes at once. Foundations have to cure and prove out before equipment lands on them, and the electrical backbone has to be roughed in before the process systems come alive. Coordinating those trades so they never wait on each other is where an experienced contractor earns the schedule.

What makes in-house fabrication the difference?

With the industry targeting 1,000 operational facilities by 2030 (Bioenergy Insight, 2026), build quality has to scale with volume. In-house fabrication is what separates a smooth RNG build from a stalled one. “We’ve fabricated in-house all the stainless steel and carbon steel piping systems, along with all the structural steel components you see out here,” Holdroy says. “Everything is done in-house and shipped to site.” Fabricating both the structural steel and the process piping in our own shop tightens quality control and keeps the schedule predictable.

RNG piping is not forgiving. It moves corrosive, moisture-laden biogas before the gas is fully cleaned, so stainless and carbon steel systems have to be welded and tested to exacting standards. Building those spools at our 700,000-square-foot fabrication facility, then shipping finished sections to site, means the hard welds happen on a bench, not in a trench. It is a faster way to work and a safer one.

How does shop-to-field coordination keep the schedule?

North America crossed 500 operational RNG facilities in 2025 (Bioenergy Insight, 2026), and most were delivered on tight timelines like this one. Coordination is the quiet engine behind an on-time build. All fabrication was coordinated between the shop, the office, and the field, with final welds and critical tie-ins made collectively on site. That single-team approach kept the entire project moving from December 2023 to wrap-up in early September 2024, a duration of about eight months. On a plant with this many systems, that kind of timeline only happens when the handoffs are clean.

Our mechanical crews handle those final tie-ins, where prefabricated spools meet installed equipment. Get the coordination right, and the last welds are routine. Get it wrong, and every tie-in becomes a negotiation. That is the case for keeping fabrication and field work under one roof.

What does turnkey RNG delivery mean for owners?

Because RNG rides the same roughly 3-million-mile pipeline grid as conventional gas (EIA, 2022), an owner’s real risk sits in construction, not distribution. Turnkey means one team owns the outcome from foundation to final tie-in. For an RNG owner, that removes the seams where projects usually stall: the gap between the steel fabricator and the pipe fabricator, or between the shop and the field crew. When the same company draws the steel, welds the pipe, sets the equipment, and makes the final connections, there is no finger-pointing when a spool does not fit. There is just one crew that has to make it right.

That integration shows up in the schedule and the budget. A build coordinated across shop, office, and field runs on a single plan, so material arrives in the sequence the field actually needs it. Owners feel that as fewer change orders and fewer idle days waiting on a part. It also shows up in accountability. One point of contact for structural steel, process piping, civil, and electrical means one number to call and one team that already knows the whole plant. For a first-of-its-kind facility processing dairy and food waste, that cohesion is often the difference between hitting a commissioning date and missing a season.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to build an RNG plant? This facility ran roughly eight months, from December 2023 to September 2024, for a complete ground-up build. Timelines vary with plant size, feedstock, and site conditions, but tight shop-to-field coordination is what keeps a schedule that aggressive on track.

What waste can an RNG plant process? This plant refines dairy products, recycling, and agricultural waste into pipeline-quality gas. Across the industry, food-waste facilities grew 54% and agricultural sites 31% in 2025 (Bioenergy Insight, 2026), so a wide range of organic feedstocks now feeds RNG production.

Is renewable natural gas compatible with existing pipelines? Yes. RNG is refined to pipeline quality and is interchangeable with conventional natural gas, so it moves through the same roughly 3-million-mile grid (EIA, 2022). That compatibility is a big reason the sector is scaling without new distribution infrastructure.

Turnkey energy construction since 1982

LMC Industrial Contractors delivers turnkey fabrication and field services across RNG, LNG, and conventional natural gas facilities. By integrating our shop, office, and field under one roof, we give customers cohesive project solutions from our renewable energy group. Planning an RNG, LNG, or gas project? Call (585) 335-3131 or email lmcinfo@lmcic.com.