Verdalia Bioenergy acquires biomethane plants in Italy

European biomethane company Verdalia Bioenergy on May 21 announced an agreement to acquire a portfolio of seven operating biomethane plants in Italy. These plants are being purchased from Green Arrow Capital, an Italian alternative investment manager, and energy developer Lazzari & Lucchini.

The biomethane plants, located in the province of Brescia, have a combined production capacity of approximately 190 GWh/year. They process around 350,000 tonnes/year of raw materials and have the potential to expand their capacity by over 50%. These plants, operational at various times over the past four years, produce biomethane exclusively from animal residues and agricultural by-products not intended for human consumption.

Verdalia Bioenergy was established in February 2023 by Fernando Bergasa and Cristina Avila, in partnership with Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The company aims to invest over €1bn ($1.08bn) by 2026 to develop, acquire, own, and operate biomethane plants across Europe.

In March 2023, Verdalia made its first acquisition of a portfolio of biomethane projects in Spain, with a total capacity of around 150 GWh/year. Since its inception, Verdalia has built a pipeline of mid- to late-stage development projects in Spain and Italy exceeding 2.5 TWh/year.

Verdalia plans to expand the production capacity of the Italian plants and monetise by-products such as bio-fertiliser and biogenic CO2 through offtake agreements.

Biomethane, also known as renewable natural gas (RNG), is a negative or low-carbon natural gas produced through the anaerobic digestion of organic waste.