Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has announced it will finance the implementation of a CRI GEO Biogas plant for the production of biogas and electricity from biodegradable waste.
It is being built in the municipality of Elias Fausto in the state of São Paulo and is expected to begin operation in March 2024.
BNDES' investment will amount to R$44 million (€8.5m), which is approximately 80% of the total investment amount of R$56.2m (€10.8m). Resources will be transferred by the National Fund on Climate Change (FNMC), within the scope of the Climate Fund Programme, complemented with BNDES' own funding.
The plant will comprise two digesters, a gasometer and motor generators, and will contain an installed capacity of 2.15 MW for electricity generation - with the ability to produce 4.5 million m³ of biomethane (purified biogas) annually. This is on top of over nine thousand tons of biofertilisers per year.
The project will take advantage of biodegradable waste from large industries located in the vicinity of the plant. Thus, in addition to ensuring the proper disposal of this material, the project will also promote the capture of methane (a greenhouse gas 34 times more harmful in the atmosphere than CO2) that would be emitted by the decomposition of organic waste.
Part of the electricity generated will be consumed by CRI GEO Biogas itself and the surplus will be injected into the distribution network of the local energy concessionaire.
The biomethane produced will be able to replace the diesel consumed in the CRI GEO Biogas fleet, in addition to being marketed to industries that currently consume fossil fuels such as natural gas, LPG and diesel. The biofertiliser, a 100% organic by-product generated in the production process, will be used as fertiliser in the region's agricultural areas.
Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development invests €8.5m into new biogas plant
