Engie to invest €800 mln in green gasses

French energy company Engie intends to invest €800 million ($900.3 million) over the next five years to develop green gasses, aiming to inject at least 10 percent of such gasses into networks by 2030. 

By 2030, Engie and its partners aim to mobilize a total of €2 billion to produce 5 TWh per year of biomethane by that date.

The company’s objective is to support the sector’s industrialization to reduce costs by about 30 to 40 percent by 2030, achieving cost parity with natural gas.

Engie said it is concentrating on standardizing, massifying and digitizing projects, and will be partnering with suppliers to facilitate their expansion in the market.

This industrialization will enable the emergence of nationally-focused SMEs and will help increase the proportion of French technologies in relevant biogas projects, the company’s statement reads.

As part of the program, Engie developed the Beauce Gâtinais Biogas facility, located in the Centre-Val de Loire region, in partnership with members of the agricultural sector.

This facility will produce 23 GWh of biomethane each year, the equivalent of the hot water and heating consumption of 1,750 households.

The materials processed by the biogas plant mainly comprise agricultural by-products of plant origin from the AgroPithiviers cooperative and from local agri-food industries together with horse manure, Engie said.

The plant will also produce 20,000 tons of organic fertilizers which will be provided to members of the AgroPithiviers cooperative.

The construction began in May 2017. The project represents a total investment of €10 million.