Fortum's new biomass-fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Jelgava, Latvia, was inaugurated on 11 September by Latvia's president Andris Bērziņš and the president of Finland Sauli Niinistö. The new plant will provide district heating to the residents and businesses in Jelgava as well as electricity to the electricity market. The new plant covers approximately... [Read More]

Naturgy is set to build its sixth biomethane production plant in Spain and the first in Andalusia in the municipality of Utrera (Seville). The plant will be built in collaboration with KEPLER Engineering and Ecogestion, and is scheduled to begin operation in 2025. The Utrera project, which currently in administrative processing, will be one of the largest in Naturgy's... [Read More]

The ATIP Foundation, Ecostrat, Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission and the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority have announced the issue of a new Bioeconomy Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone rating for woody biomass. Funded by the US Department of Agriculture through a Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG), the “Advancing the Bioeconomy in... [Read More]

Anaergia has announced that its subsidiary Rhode Island Bioenergy Facility (RIBF) has closed a $20 million term loan (€18.8 million) with East West Bank, a California Corporation. The loan will finance the remaining construction and commissioning of the RIBF project in the Town of Johnston, Rhode Island, US and working capital. This financing has a seven-year term,... [Read More]

Cambi has signed a contract for the Woodman Point Water Resource Recovery Facility, the largest wastewater treatment plant in Perth and in Western Australia. The facility, owned by Water Corporation, will utilise thermal hydrolysis process (THP) technology to increase sludge treatment capacity without needing to build additional digesters. This will enable the utility... [Read More]

Latvia has submitted a request to the European Commission (EC) to amend the country's recovery and resilience plan, proposing to add a REPowerEU chapter, according to Latvian news agency LETA. The REPowerEU chapter includes a reform aimed at promoting the development of renewable energy communities and energy self-generation. The reform also aims to increase the use... [Read More]

Two students have won a prestigious Climate Change Thought Leadership Award for their dissertation projects that look at pioneering solutions to climate change. Specialist anaerobic digestion (AD) and green project funder, Privilege Finance, runs the awards each year to identify and nurture future leaders of the renewable energy industry. Privilege Finance’s chief... [Read More]

A group of Indonesian companies have started detailed discussions on the best means of the commercialisation of biomethane derived from palm oil mill effluent (POME) in the country. The organisations include Indonesian natural gas supplier PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGT), a subsidiary of the country's national oil company Pertamina; JGC Holdings Corporation (JGC);... [Read More]

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has agreed to lend the Vinnytsia Poultry Farm of MHP Group in Ukraine up to $30 million (€28.4 million) for the modernisation and expansion of a plant that produces biomethane from agricultural waste. The IFC board of directors approved the project on September 21. The company already operates two biogas plants that process... [Read More]

FDE, a carbon-negative energy producer, has announced the formation of a Norwegian subsidiary, Biogy Solutions AS. The new company is set to become a frontunner in the biogas and bio-CO2 maret across Scandinavia, according to FDE. The chairman of FDE, Julien Moulin, was positive about the company's prospects in Norway, stating: "Biogy Solutions AS is a newly founded Norwegian... [Read More]

As part of its ambition to phase out coal, in 2020 the major European sugar manufacturer Pfeifer & Langen decided to decarbonise its sugar factory in Könnern in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. After an initial meeting with AET, Pfeifer & Langen decided to carry out a combustion test and a load test to determine how to best convert the power source of its boilers from... [Read More]

Sam Schutte, CEO of Synthica Energy, tells Bioenergy Insight how capital investment from Goldman Sachs will support the company’s long-term plans. Synthica Energy is an energy transition platform aimed to design, build, own, and operate large-scale, contracted anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities to convert pre-consumer organic waste into renewable natural gas (RNG). The... [Read More]

French president Emmanuel Macron has said the country will convert its two coal-fired power plants, with combined capacity of 1.8GW, to biomass by 2027. In a televised interview on 24 September, Macron discussed plans to meet France's climate targets within the next seven years. France aims to reduce its emissions by 55% by 2030, against a 1990 baseline, in line with... [Read More]

Rohe Solutions, which sells natural gas, LNG and biogas as well as related services within industrial manufacturing, plans to start liquefying biogas from the grid at the Hamina LNG terminal in Finland, with deliveries due to start in early 2024. The company plans to begin offering its customer Bio-LNG, or liquefied biogas in the same year. Rohe Solutions is part of... [Read More]

DHL Supply Chain has announced plans to begin operating biomethane-fuelled trucks with an investment worth €80 million into a dedicated biomethane production facility in Cork, Ireland, run by Stream BioEnergy. The new facility is expected to provide fuel for up to 150 trucks, resulting in an estimated annual carbon reduction of 15,000 tonnes, the equivalent of more... [Read More]

ENGIE has acquired Ixora Energy Ltd, a leading biomethane producer based in the UK since 2017. The acquisition, secured for £64.8 million (€74.6 million), was made from the responsible investment manager, Downing LLP. This strategic move marks the addition of three new production units to ENGIE’s portfolio, which are located in Devon and Somerset, collectively generating... [Read More]

On 20 September, the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment (ENVI) adopted its Opinion on the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), a milestone legislation to foster EU-based manufacturing of clean technologies. The European Biogas Association (EBA) said it is deeply concerned by the ENVI Committee’s decision to exclude “sustainable biogas and biomethane technologies”... [Read More]