The Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines, Jorge Paradela, has emphasized that clean energy at stable and competitive prices «is becoming the best lever to attract industrial investments to Andalusia» and that, in this context of opportunity, the Andalusian Government is making «a strategic commitment to new technological vectors that are key in this energy transition, with special attention to renewable hydrogen, biofuels, and biogas.»
During his appearance in the Plenary Session, Paradela has highlighted the «great potential of Andalusia for the generation of biogas and biomethane» from the use of waste generated by livestock, agriculture, agri-food industry, urban solid waste, and wastewater treatment plants.
A study on this capacity carried out by the Spanish Gas Association, Sedigás, «points us out as the second region with the greatest potential in Spain», while estimates by the Andalusian Energy Agency, under his Ministry, show that, «if all these projects were to materialize, it could cover 100% of natural gas consumption in the domestic sector and nearly 30% of industrial consumption in Andalusia,» he explained.
The minister has framed in this potential the launch of the Andalusian Biogas Alliance, «the first promoted by an autonomous community in Spain in the field of biogas,» which expands and diversifies the Andalusian Government’s commitment to renewable energies and whose inauguration was presided over by the Andalusian President, Juanma Moreno, in Jaén on January 13th.
The Alliance, he explained, starts with more than 90 affiliated entities including companies, associations, universities, or technological centers, although it is open to new memberships. Driven by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines, it will be coordinated jointly with the Ministries of Sustainability and Environment and Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development.
The objectives of the Andalusian Government with this new Alliance, which replicates the successful model of the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Alliance, are to promote a solid and effective collaboration among key actors in the biogas value chain in Andalusia, accelerating the deployment of these plants and decarbonization solutions in the Andalusian industry efficiently, minimizing emissions and neutralizing other negative impacts such as waste management or odors.
At the same time, it will contribute to achieving the European challenges to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and to meet the emission reduction and renewable energy penetration targets proposed in the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) by 2030, Paradela explained.
«Biogas is presented as one of the solutions in the circular economy framework to achieve decarbonization, especially in those sectors with high natural gas consumption such as thermal-intensive industry, generation and cogeneration plants for electricity production, or the transportation sector.» This renewable gas is obtained from the decomposition of organic waste, and its main advantage is that it is an energy vector that can be used for many purposes. «The integration of biogas into the system will thus allow Andalusia to move towards a more sustainable energy transition,» he noted.
There are around 19,000 biogas production plants in Europe. However, in Spain, this technology still has a moderate implementation, with 210 active biogas plants, according to the latest available data.
In Andalusia, as of June 30, 2024, there are 21 biogas production plants, all for electricity generation, contributing a total of 33.45 megawatts. Of these, 11 are located in urban solid waste landfills, 9 in WWTP (wastewater treatment plants), and only one in a livestock farm, using pig waste as raw material.
In the region, there are currently about fifty biogas facilities in the project phase, which would involve an investment of 1.4 billion euros, as well as the creation of around 3,500 jobs. Of these, 30 are in administrative processing, with investments totaling 840 million euros and an expected impact on employment of 2,000 people, with the province of Jaén concentrating the highest number of these projects, with 16 in process.
«Faced with the global challenge of the energy transition, Andalusia has found in the development of renewable energies the great engine for the reindustrialization and economic growth of our community,» the minister concluded.