Quercus and Elionia close €76m financing for three Italy biomethane plants

Renewable energy specialists Quercus Real Assets and Elionia have closed the financing of three greenfield biomethane plants that will be built in northern Italy.

The €76m transaction was completed through their joint venture vehicle, QGM, and marks a significant milestone in their shared commitment to accelerate the energy transition.

Project financing was arranged by BNL BNP Paribas, Banco BPM and Mediocredito Centrale. SACE, the insurance and financial group controlled by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, will guarantee 50% of the facility.

The three plants represent the first phase of a broader portfolio comprising more than 20 similar initiatives planned for development in the same region. The plants will be built during the next ten months and will be operated using agriculture by-products and animal manure.

Diego Biasi, Quercus Co-founder and CEO and Danilo Fumarola, Elionia Co-founder and CEO, said they drew on Quercus’ experience developing the first anaerobic digestion facility in East London through a joint venture with the UK Treasury owned Green Investment Bank.

“Our idea is to continue to invest responsibly in sustainable businesses in Italy and eventually elsewhere in Europe,” they said. “|The last 15 years have been monopolised by renewable investments in electrons, in the future we will see more and more a combination of electrons and biofuel molecules and this supports our strong expectations on the biomethane sector.”

Italy is seeing a strong upturn in biomethane investment activity.

Anaergia recently announced it will develop an AD plant in northern Italy, which followed Italy’s Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security allocating €193m for biomethane development and the European Investment Bank approving a €264m loan to build biomethane pipelines.