Cepsa, PreZero Spain partner to develop biomethane plants

Spanish oil and gas company Cepsa and PreZero Spain, part of German retailer Schwarz Group, have signed a partnership agreement to develop biomethane plants, Cepsa announced on July 3.

Under the agreement, PreZero Spain will supply biomethane from some of its projects to Cepsa, and the two companies will jointly develop biomethane plants. They will also collaborate on the recovery of waste to produce second-generation biofuels and circular chemical products, and to decarbonise PreZero’s land fleet in Spain and Portugal.

Both companies are currently developing a biomethane plant in the Spanish province of Huelva. This new facility, with an annual capacity of up to 100 GWh—sufficient to cover the heating needs of around 20,000 homes—will be one of the largest installations of this renewable energy in Spain.

The plant will be built at Cepsa's facilities in Palos de la Frontera, where the company has an energy park and is constructing a biofuels plant to produce sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel. Cepsa also plans to develop a green hydrogen plant with a 1 GW capacity as part of the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley at the energy park, which also houses a chemical plant.

PreZero, which produced 75% of all biomethane generated in Spain in 2023, will supply Cepsa with this renewable gas on a preferential basis for projects that both companies identify as strategic. The agreement also enables Cepsa to obtain biogenic CO2 from PreZero Spain's biomethane plants to produce synthetic fuels.

As part of this partnership, PreZero will recover other organic waste or used cooking oils for Cepsa to use in producing second-generation biofuels.