Ence’s biomass platform powers on as pulp losses hit €55 million

Spanish biorefinery group Ence generated more than 1,240 GWh of biomass electricity in 2025 — a six per cent increase on the previous year — as the company accelerates its transformation into a diversified renewable energy business, even as falling pulp prices pushed it to a €55 million annual loss.
Biomass electricity generation in the second half of 2025 delivered EBITDA of €20 million, implying an annualised run rate of €40 million, with fourth-quarter output reaching 346 GWh, up ten per cent on the same period in 2024.
The company, which operates the largest diversified biomass-based renewable energy platform in the Iberian Peninsula, is also advancing 25 biofertiliser and biomethane projects at an advanced stage of engineering and administrative processing, alongside three signed contracts in its industrial heat business and a fourth currently in start-up.
The financial loss — which includes a €24 million provision related to a restructuring programme that will reduce the pulp workforce by 15% — was driven primarily by a sharp decline in cellulose prices, which averaged $1,086 per tonne across 2025.
However, the company says the outlook for 2026 has improved markedly, with prices already reaching $1,250 per tonne and leading producers announcing increases to $1,330 per tonne.
On the pulp side, Ence is pressing ahead with a shift towards higher-value specialty grades. By the end of 2025, specialty pulp accounted for 30% of pulp sales, up seven percentage points on 2024, commanding an additional margin of €37 per tonne over standard fibre. The company's target is for specialty grades to exceed 62% of sales by 2028.
A significant step towards that goal came in the fourth quarter of 2025 with the start-up of the first fluff pulp line at its Navia biofactory, which has an annual capacity of 125,000 tonnes.
The move makes Ence the only European producer of eucalyptus-based fluff pulp, targeting the continent's absorbent hygiene products market as a cost-competitive alternative to imported long fibre.
Cash costs also fell to their lowest level since 2022, closing at €483 per tonne — a saving of €10 per tonne on 2024 and €70 per tonne compared with 2022.
Two further initiatives are underway targeting an additional €30 per tonne reduction between 2026 and 2027.
Net financial debt stood at €378 million at year-end, up from €321 million in December 2024.