Renewable gas

Circular energy for a decarbonised future

We are invested in innovative projects to develop renewable gas and inject it into the gas distribution network

Developing biomethane and green hydrogen is part of our vision of the future as a company to transform the current business model and lay the foundations to keep creating value through the energy transition.
 
To achieve our shared decarbonisation objectives, we must work with a mix of energy solutions that include not only speeding up electrification, but also continuous growth in renewable energy development. It is equally necessary to invest in renewable gases like biomethane and hydrogen, which will enable us to decarbonise sectors which are difficult to electrify such as the industrial heat sector and some transport applications; in Spain, it is estimated that at least 40% of CO2 emissions have no electrifiable alternative, meaning that renewable gases offer the most efficient alternative.

Renewable gas is obtained by processing urban, agricultural, livestock and food industry waste and by filtering wastewater. It is simple to inject into existing gas distribution networks and can be used in the same way as natural gas.

Benefits of renewable gases

They reduce greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding the CO2 emissions from the fuel they replace.

They reduce energy dependence on foreign sources, because they are produced domestically.

They drive the circular economy, because they contribute to the sustainable management of agricultural or livestock waste.

They create jobs and settle the population in rural areas, because biomethane is produced mainly from agricultural or livestock waste.

Find out the benefits and potential of renewable gas and our projects in this area

Our projects

We have projects along the entire integrated value chain, from waste management and biogas production to the production, distribution and marketing of biomethane.

We have experience in developing renewable gas on a commercial scale thanks to projects launched in recent years, such as the Elena landfill project, as well as new projects that are beginning to take shape, such as the Vila-sana project (Lleida) or the innovative project at the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of Bens, in A Coruña.

What’s more, we have an additional portfolio of more than 60 projects in various stages of development.

Since 2014 we have been spearheading innovative projects to understand and reduce production costs and encourage the injection of renewable gases into the gas network. We believe in biomethane because of its enormous impact on the circular economy and its benefits for the environment, since it resolves the environmental problem of polluting emissions associated with waste management, which has so far been releasing gas into the atmosphere. What is more, it reuses urban waste or waste from agricultural or livestock operations and wastewater treatment plants, creating circular economy models that also benefit the waste producer. In this regard, it is important to stress that many of these plants are built far from big cities, contributing to the development of rural areas and to territorial cohesion in areas with demographic challenges.

We have pioneered biomethane development in Spain and have two plants already injecting gas into the gas network. These are the Mixed Renewable Gas Unit in A Coruña, which produces biomethane from biogas obtained during the wastewater treatment process, and the Elena plant in Cerdanyola del Vallès, which produces biomethane from biogas obtained from municipal solid waste and which has been a milestone in Spain’s energy transition with the first injection of renewable gas from landfill into the distribution network.

Our two biomethane plants have an installed production capacity of 2 MW.

Our projects

Elena Plant
Mixed Renewable Gas Unit
Vila-sana Plant
Torrefarrera Plant
Utiel Plant
Utrera Plant

Other projects that inject into our distribution network

 UNUE Project

This is the second Spanish biomethane generation plant that uses biogas and the first private industrial initiative after the one in Valdemingomez. The plant is in Burgos and is a project by Biogasnalia, Enagás Emprende, Bioengas and Suma Capital. This plant transforms surplus biogas into biomethane by means of an upgrading process. The resulting renewable gas is then injected into the Nedgia network.
Torre Santamaría Plant

Livestock waste from the Torre Santamaría farm (Balaguer, Lleida) is converted into biomethane in this plant and then injected into the network of Nedgia, our gas distributor. This project was made possible by Spain’s first long-term biomethane sale agreement, signed by Torre Santamaría with Axpo Iberia.

Can Mata landfill

Injection of biomethane into the urban waste distribution network from this controlled deposit, located in Els Hostalets de Pierola (Barcelona). It has a capacity of 70 GWh/year of biomethane, equivalent to the consumption of 14,000 homes, avoiding the emission of 17,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Granollers WWTP.

Injection of 24GWh/year of biomethane into the network from the Anaerobic Digestion and Composting Plant of the CGRVO and the Granollers Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of the Besòs Tordera Consortium, in Barcelona, equivalent to the consumption of 4,800 homes, avoiding the emission of 5,088 tons of CO2 per year.

Biomethane Initiatives

Construction of a facility in Noez (Toledo) by the joint venture formed by Suma Capital and SITRA, which has reached an agreement with Nedgia for the injection of 40 GWh/year of biomethane into the gas network of our distributor. This volume is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 6,500 homes.

Find out more

Other projects

Slurry projects

Project in Galicia with Repsol and Reganosa to transform surplus slurry (cattle, pig and poultry) and other organic waste from this Autonomous Community into biomethane, with the aim of producing renewable gas to cover 7% of demand for gas in Galicia. 

Rice straw project

Project in the Valencia Region carried out with Enagás and Genia to obtain biomethane from waste rice straw, offering a solution to the environmental problems caused when this waste is burned. 

We have been researching the development of hydrogen for years due to the huge potential that it represents for our country, which could be a strategic exporter of a new renewable energy, capable of being transported long distances in the existing infrastructure and integrated with the electricity network to create an efficient and resilient energy system.

Consequently, we are in the process of developing large renewable hydrogen production hubs linked to Just Transition zones, especially in areas affected by the closure of thermal power plants. The aim of multi-demand hubs is to promote the development of new markets for direct consumption in industry, injection into the gas network for marketing with guarantees of origin, mobility or the production of hydrogen derivatives.

For example, we are working alongside Enagás Renovable to develop a hydrogen plant in La Robla (León), in the vicinity of the thermal power plant that was closed in 2020. The aim is to produce renewable hydrogen using electricity produced at a photovoltaic plant and an electrolyser, both for local consumption and export to northwest Europe in the future. It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help renewable energies penetrate sectors that are difficult to electrify.

In addition, together with Repsol and Reganosa, we have plans for a renewable hydrogen hub of up to 200 MW in Meirama. The project will have an initial capacity of 30 MW in the first phase. Once the project has been fully developed, the plant’s capacity will reach 200 MW and it will produce 30,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year. As it is located in the municipality of Cerceda in A Coruña, a Just Transition area affected by the closure of the Meirama thermal power plant, the project will create stable employment and train highly qualified professionals.

The plant will supply the Repsol refinery in A Coruña and other consumers. The hydrogen will be used in other industries, in mobility, and will also be injected into the gas network and blended with natural gas. All these uses will reduce the area’s carbon footprint and demonstrate that it is feasible to mass produce renewable hydrogen and distribute it to end consumers.

Reports

Biogas and biomethane as a key lever in the decarbonisation of the Spanish economy
Renewable gas. The future of energy and the environment
Article “The potential of biomethane in a reference city: Lleida”
Hydrogen. The energy vector of a decarbonised economy
Renewable gases. An emerging energy vector