Greenwood County has entered a partnership with Redtail Renewables on a landfill gas project, adding the county to a growing list of South Carolina municipalities exploring ways to capture energy from waste sites rather than letting the gas dissipate into the atmosphere.
The partnership was announced in mid-September and listed among the county’s own posted news updates, which track major developments alongside items like early voting locations and permit information. Landfill gas projects typically involve capturing methane produced as buried waste decomposes and converting it into usable energy or pipeline-grade renewable natural gas, a process that can generate revenue for the host county while reducing methane emissions that would otherwise escape from the landfill.
Redtail Renewables specializes in developing these kinds of projects at municipal and county landfill sites, working with local governments to install collection systems that capture the gas before it can vent into the surrounding air. For counties like Greenwood, such partnerships can offer a new revenue stream tied to an existing piece of public infrastructure without requiring significant upfront investment from the county itself, since developers in this sector typically finance and build the capture infrastructure in exchange for long-term operating agreements.
The project’s addition to Greenwood County’s landfill operations comes as the county has also been managing other infrastructure and environmental matters, including post-storm debris fee schedules tied to Hurricane Helene recovery. While specific financial terms, project capacity and an expected completion timeline were not detailed in the initial announcement, the partnership signals a shift toward treating the county’s landfill as a potential energy asset rather than solely a waste management site.
County officials have not indicated whether additional public meetings or council votes will be required before the project moves forward, though further updates are expected as details of the agreement become available.
