Through this investment, made possible through the partnership, Methaplanet with EIT InnoEnergy’s help, will be able to secure the necessary funding to complete two important and necessary tasks for its biogas production boosting technology.

These tasks are to accelerate the international expansion and to increase the impact of the Maxximizer technology, which will be used on the bio-gas plant. This technology will have excellent benefits for the plant, including speeding up the rate of production, giving the technology the nickname, biogas production-boosting technology.

The biogas production plant focuses on producing energy from pellets of feedstock such as straw, straw-based manure or grass and converting that feedstock into high-yielding energy pellets. The benefits of this process include ensuring that the organic substance within the feedstock is made much more susceptible to the bacteria within the biogas plant. Another benefit of this innovative process is the claim from Methaplanet that the Maxximizer technology is able to consistently boost the yield of the feedstock up to five times, whilst also shortening the retention time in the plant by almost three times.

The founder and CEO of Methaplanet, Xander Sandell, said, "The structure and ecosystem of EIT InnoEnergy, with leading international industrials and financial companies as shareholders as well as a strong link to the EU, provides a good platform for collaboration. Their network of offices in 17 countries, access to universities, and other knowledge centres create unique possibilities in various countries to increase our focus on R&D and sales. Availability of feedstock for biogas plants is a challenge in most European countries, we will make a significant contribution to solve this challenge and contribute to the energy transition and the circular economy."

The investment manager EIT InnoEnergy Benelux, Roel van Diepen, commented, “In order to achieve our climate goals and diversify away from fossil fuels, the growth of biogas production is an important priority for the EU, with RepowerEU ambitions targeting more than a 10-fold increase in biogas supply by 2030. Methaplanet’s innovation has the potential to contribute to these goals by upgrading and optimising a typically low-value and hard-to-digest feedstock, such as straw-based manures. We are impressed by the founding team, its partners, the pilot plant in France, and growth prospects. We believe InnoEnergy can play an instrumental role in accelerating the growth of Methaplanet through our innovation ecosystem.”