Spanish renewable firm Plenium Partners obtains €25 million from ING Italia to build a CO₂-recovery biomethane facility in northern Italy, aligning with EU energy transition targets.
Plenium Partners has secured €25 million in financing from ING Italia to construct a biomethane plant in Lombardy, Italy, capable of processing 50,000 tonnes of agricultural waste annually. The facility forms part of a €100 million initiative to develop four plants supporting the EU’s REPowerEU objectives, with operations slated to begin in Q1 2026.
Financing and Facility Specifications
The Lombardy plant will utilize anaerobic digestion technology to convert local agricultural byproducts into 12,000 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent biomethane annually. ING Italia’s financing follows the bank’s May 29 announcement of a €500 million sustainable energy fund targeting Southern European projects.
Policy Drivers and Market Context
The project aligns with Italy’s May 28 tax credit scheme offering 10% incentives for biogas infrastructure. This complements the EU’s updated REPowerEU strategy raising 2030 biomethane production targets to 35 billion cubic meters, revised upward in May 2025 following energy security concerns.
Resource Utilization Potential
According to ENEA’s May 2025 analysis, Italy’s agricultural residues could theoretically replace 15% of national gas demand. Plenium’s initiative marks the first large-scale implementation of these findings in the Po Valley region.
Historical Precedents and Sector Challenges
The EU’s current biogas push mirrors its 2018 Bioenergy Sustainability Policy framework, which initially struggled with feedstock competition between energy and food production. However, new regulations strictly limit usable waste materials to non-food biomass.
Germany’s experience shows regulatory pitfalls – its 2020 biogas expansion stalled due to complex permitting processes. Italy’s streamlined regional approval system for agro-biogas projects, implemented in March 2025, seeks to avoid similar bottlenecks.
