Eneco and Oost NL Invest in Sustainable Energy with BASgas
Netherlands, Thursday, 12 December 2024.
Eneco and Oost NL fund BASgas to produce green gas from manure, enhancing sustainable energy use in the Netherlands.
Strategic Investment in Farm-Based Green Gas Production
Energy company Eneco and development agency Oost NL have made a strategic investment in BASgas, an innovative startup specializing in green gas production from farm manure [1]. This investment will enable BASgas to establish production units at dairy farms and develop a comprehensive logistics system for transporting the produced gas to the network [1]. The company aims to scale up to 50 installations at farms, targeting operations with 100 or more dairy cows [1].
Addressing Critical Energy Loss
The initiative addresses a significant environmental challenge in the Netherlands, where over 600 million cubic meters of potential green gas is lost annually due to insufficient production capacity at most farms [1]. BASgas’s solution involves implementing small-scale installations that efficiently process biogas, providing farmers with an additional revenue stream while contributing to renewable energy production [1]. Eneco, which aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2035 [1], will purchase the green gas produced by BASgas for integration into the gas network.
Sustainable Impact and Market Potential
This investment aligns with broader European trends in renewable gas production, where biomethane production reached 4.9 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2023, with installed capacity growing to 6.4 bcm/year by Q1 2024, marking a 21% year-on-year increase in the EU [3]. The initiative contributes to Europe’s ambitious target of producing 35 bcm of biomethane by 2030 [3]. Rick Mintjes, investment manager at Oost NL, emphasizes that ‘BASgas couples a technological solution to an urgent societal problem while offering perspective for farmers’ [1].
Future Outlook
The project represents a significant step in the Netherlands’ transition to renewable energy sources. Paul Hendrix, Director of Business Development at Eneco, states that ‘the initiation of green gas production is crucial for Eneco’ [1]. The investment is being made through the Innovation and Energy Fund Gelderland, managed by the province of Gelderland [1]. This development comes at a time when the European biogas sector is demonstrating strong growth potential, with projections suggesting that by 2030, the biomethane sector could create 500,000 jobs and generate an additional benefit of €12 billion per year [3].