Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION

I, Robert E. Swanson, certify that:

| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| | -- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | 1. | I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of
 the Ridgewood Energy W Fund, LLC;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| | 2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain
 any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
 necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under
 which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
 covered by this report;                                                                                  
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| | 3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and
 other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all
 material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
 flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;                                                                                                      
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| | 4. | The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I
 are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
 procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and
 internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rule s
 13a  15(f) and 15d  15(f)) for the
 registrant and have:                                               
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| |    | (a) Designed such disclosure controls and
 procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed
 under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
 registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by
 others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this
 report is being prepared;         
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| |    | (b) Designed such internal control over financial
 reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
 designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
 reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
 statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
 accounting principles;                
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| |    | (c) Evaluate the effectiveness of the registrants
 disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our
 conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
 procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
 evaluation; and                                                                                                      
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| |    | (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the
 registrants internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
 the registrants most recent fiscal quarter (the registrants fourth fiscal
 quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is
 reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control
 over financial reporting; and
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| | 5. | The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I
 have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
 financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the audit committee of
 the registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
 functions):                                                                                          
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| |    | (a) All significant deficiencies and material
 weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial
 reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrants
 ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and                                                                                                                
| |    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
| |    | (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that
 involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the
 registrants internal control over financial reporting.                                                                                                                                                                                                                

| |        |                                       | 
| | ------ | ------------------------------------- | 
| | Dated: | March 13, 2009                        | 
| |        |                                       | 
| | /s/    | ROBERT E. SWANSON                     | 
| |        |                                      
| | Name:  | Robert E. Swanson                     | 
| |        |                                       | 
| | Title: | President and Chief Executive Officer | 
| |        | (Principal Executive Officer)         | 

---