Goldman Sachs Launches €1 Billion European Biomethane Business
- February 8, 2023
- Posted by: Quatro Strategies
- Category: Cleantech
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) announced on Monday it has launched a biomethane business in Europe called Verdalia Bioenergy. The U.S. financial services giant said it aimed to invest more than €1 billion in the new business over the next four years. Biomethane, a lower carbon alternative to fossil-based natural gas, is produced from the decomposition of organic waste and is seen as a key plank in efforts to lower carbon emissions in the European Union.
The EU aims to reach 370 TWh per year of biogas and biomethane by 2030, which needs an estimated €80 billion investment to increase production tenfold to reach that target.
Verdalia Bioenergy will invest in both early-stage biomethane development projects as well as existing assets with the aim of contributing to Europe’s decarbonization and energy security agenda, the asset manager said on Monday.
The new company signed an agreement in Spain to purchase a portfolio of biomethane projects with a total capacity of 150 GWh per year. They are in mid-stage development.
“We believe that biomethane is today one of the most compelling segments in the energy transition for infrastructure investors,” GSAM’s infrastructure business said.
Biomethane can be used in the same way as natural gas and delivered using the same infrastructure, yet comes without the same high level of climate-damaging emissions.
Biogas and biomethane production has already created 210,000 green jobs in Europe and is saving 60 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, according to the European Biogas Association.
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