A platform that develops and builds projects to produce biogas and/or improve it and transform it into biomethane for injection into the natural gas grid or bio-LNG for transport. Its first investment is UNUE, a recovery plant located in Burgos, which produces 20 GWh per year of biomethane that is injected into the Spanish natural gas distribution network. Enagás, an international leader in natural gas infrastructures listed on the IBEX-35, is Suma Capital’s partner in UNUE.
In addition, the company has incorporated the company Soluciones Totales de Biometano together with Nippon Gases, one of the leading industrial and medical gases companies in Europe, to undertake two biogas upgrading plants produced at the facilities of Gestcompost, a company in which Suma Capital has a stake, in Pina de Ebro and Belinchón, which are expected to produce a total of 52GWh of biomethane in the first phase, reaching 82GWh in the second phase.
SC Gases Renovables is developing more projects in Spain with market-leading technical partners.
Biomethane plays an important role in achieving the EU’s goals of decarbonization and reducing the EU’s dependence on fossil fuel imports, while reducing exposure to natural gas price volatility. In addition, the use of digestate as fertilizer closes the nutrient cycle in regional ecosystems and avoids CO2 emissions that would be released due to the production of mineral fertilizers. The EU has set a target of producing 35 million cubic meters (bcm) per year of biomethane by 2030.
The facility transforms biogas into biomethane for injection into the natural gas grid, significantly reducing pollutants and dependence on fossil fuels. It contributes to increasing local non-fossil natural gas in the grid and is one of only three biomethane generation plants of its kind in Spain.
The beneficiaries of the results are society and the environment at large, as the substitution of fossil fuels contributes to improving air quality and the general state of the environment, as well as mitigating climate change. In addition, reducing dependence on fossil fuels benefits users of the natural gas grid, including industrial users, who can accelerate their decarbonisation.
It is estimated that this plant will inject 20,000 MWh of biomethane annually when it is at full capacity and will avoid the emission of 4,500 Tn of CO2 per year. The useful life of the project considered in the calculations is 20 years. SC Gases Renovables reduces annual emissions by 4,700 tonnes of CO2.
The management of the waste required for biogas production may compromise the viability of the projects, while the lack of adequate natural gas infrastructures could reduce the interest of industrial consumers in sourcing renewable gas.
