Spain – Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has secured two sites in Catalonia, Spain, for two major industrial scale biogas facilities through its CI Advanced Bioenergy Fund I (CI ABF I).

The Catalan government has designated the La Sentiu project as a project of strategic importance, which suggests that the permission application for the plant will be given priority by the Catalan government and administration.

The biogas plants will be developed by CIP and the Spanish developer Connect Bioenergy in preparation for the anticipated Final Investment Decision in 2024.

Decarbonization

The biogas facilities will employ organic waste from local farms, slaughterhouse waste, and other industries as green, sustainable feedstock. Due to the organic materials being recycled as fertilizer for agricultural production and producing biogen CO2 for industrial usage or Power-to-X projects, the plants will produce green gas (biomethane) to be injected into the current natural gas grid and contribute to circularity. The two biogas facilities should reduce CO2 emissions by more than 150,000 tons annually in total.

Both the long-term demand for energy security and independence as well as the decarbonization of difficult-to-abate sectors will be met by the plants. They will also help with local job creation and contribute to resolving the issue of an excess of nutrients in the soil and waterways in the area brought on by the concentration of agricultural production.

The fund

Lundsby Biogas A/S, a producer of Danish biogas technology, will participate in the project’s development as a small shareholder.

CI ABF I is funding cutting-edge bioenergy facilities in North America and Europe. Through the creation of advanced biofuels and biogas, it enables institutional investors to contribute to the energy transition and take part in the decarbonization of difficult-to-abate sectors. The fund has a target fund size of EUR 1 billion and attained its second closing of EUR 500 million in September 2022. CI ABF I is actively developing a pipeline of advanced bioenergy projects across its target markets in Europe and North America in addition to the biogas plants in Spain. According to the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, CI ABF I is categorized as an Article 9 “dark green” fund (SFDR)