Italy-based Edison has signed a 15-year biomethane purchase agreement (BPA) with Kanadevia Inova, marking an expansion of its green gas portfolio with an annual offtake volume of approximately three million cubic metres.
Under the deal, Kanadevia Inova will construct a biomethane plant fuelled by agricultural by-products in Cuneo, northern Italy, with completion slated for the first half of 2025.
According to a joint statement, all biomethane produced at the site will be acquired by Edison.
Fabio Dubini, Edison’s EVP of Gas & Power Portfolio Management & Optimisation, highlighted the environmental and economic benefits of the deal, stating, “Thanks to this agreement, Edison strengthens its position in the Italian and European green gas market, offering customers, particularly energy-intensive ones, a competitive solution that can reduce their exposure to the purchase of ETS securities.”
“At the same time, it confirms its commitment to accompany its customers on the path to decarbonisation through increasing shares of green gas, such as precisely biomethane and BioLNG.”
©Edison
Keith Carr, Executive Vice President Asset Management at Kanadevia Inova, described the project as “the final piece in bringing our vision of a true resource circularity, decarbonisation and sustainable energy supply to life.”
The plant, which will employ wet anaerobic digestion technology under a DFBOO (design, finance, build, own, operate) model, is the first of its kind for Kanadevia Inova in Italy, converting agricultural waste into biomethane and promoting regional decarbonisation.
Biomethane, derived from the purification of biogas produced by anaerobic digestion, is a key component of the EU’s REPowerEU plan, which aims to scale production to 35 billion cubic metres annually by 2030.
Offering benefits such as greenhouse gas reduction and waste circularity, biomethane can serve multiple applications, including heating, electricity generation, vehicle fuel and grid injection.
Europe’s biomethane market has experienced substantial growth in recent years. In 2022, production reached approximately 4.2 billion cubic metres, marking a nearly 20% increase from the previous year.
In Denmark, the Green Gas Denmark project delivers over 10 million cubic metres annually, supplying renewable gas to households and transport.
In France, the BioValo project, developed at a cost of €15 million ($16m), generates around six million cubic metres of biomethane yearly from agricultural waste, while Germany’s ‘Energiepark Mainz’ is producing eight million cubic metres.
According to Transparency Market Research, the European biomethane market was valued at over €2.3bn ($2.5bn) in 2021 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7%, potentially surpassing €4.8bn ($5.1bn) by 2031.
