The American company Verdalia Bioenergy has chosen Spain for its first operation in the market. The company purchased a portfolio of biomethane projects in mid-stage development in Spain, with a total capacity of approximately 150 gigawatts per year. Created by the infrastructure investment division of Goldman Sachs Asset Management to develop, acquire, build and operate plants using this energy source across Europe, Verdalia plans to invest one billion euros in the sector over the next four years.

The company aims to contribute to Europe’s energy security and decarbonisation agenda by developing a significant biomethane production capacity. With this aim in mind, it will invest in projects in their initial phases as well as assets that are already operational. The purchase of a portfolio in Spain, which has already been signed and is awaiting the go-ahead from regulatory authorities, is a clear example of these plans.

Investment capacity
Two Spaniards with solid experience in the natural gas sector have been appointed to lead Verdalia Bioenergy: Fernando Bergasa and Cristina Ávila. Together they hope to make the young company a biomethane leader in Europe. For this task they will count on the aforementioned investment capacity of one billion euros, which must be administered over the next four years.

Biomethane is generated from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste, and falls into the classification of carbon-negative or low-carbon natural gas. It is an effective tool to accelerate decarbonisation as it offers the benefits of fossil natural gas but without its carbon emissions, and it can use the existing infrastructure. Its production does in addition prevent the methane emissions produced by decomposing organic waste.

The company refers to data from the European Biogas Association to defend the fact that current biogas and biomethane production has already created 210,000 green jobs in Europe and saves 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per year.

Key tool
Fernando Bergasa, Verdalia’s executive chairman, said that, “Renewable gas will be a key tool to assist Europe in its commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. We are looking to acquire mid- to late-stage development projects and operational assets across Europe as we pursue our vision of developing Verdalia Bioenergy into a leading European player in the biomethane industry”.

Matteo Botto Poala, Managing Director of the company's Infrastructure business, described biomethane as "one of the most compelling segments in the energy transition for infrastructure investors”. Tavis Cannell, Global Co-Head of the same division, said that his company has “a long history of creating and building scaled players within the green energy space”, adding that they were “excited to contribute to the energy transition by bringing much needed biomethane supply to Europe”.