Veolia has successfully completed the first production and injection into the natural gas grid of biomethane obtained from liquid industrial waste generated at its facilities. Gunvor in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva).
The facility, designed, built and operated by Veolia, treats 105 m³ of industrial effluents daily and achieves a production of more than 8.000 m³ of biomethane per day, equivalent to more than 32 GWh of renewable energy per year, enough to cover the energy consumption of approximately 9.000 homes.
The plant incorporates three technologies proprietary to the Veolia Group: the Memthane® DigesterAn anaerobic digestion reactor with membrane technology and a capacity of 4.000 m³ maximizes biogas production from liquid industrial waste; the system Sulfothane™ , for the biological desulfurization of biogas; and the technology MemGas™, which performs the final purification to meet the strict quality standards required for injection into the natural gas network.
This is the first time in Spain that this technological configuration has been applied to liquid industrial waste, which is characterized by a greater complexity of treatment than conventional agricultural and livestock flows, representing a significant advance in the energy valorization of industrial waste streams.
The production of biomethane at the plant avoids the emission of more than 8.000 tons of CO₂ per year and confirms the potential of energy recovery from waste as a real decarbonization tool for Spanish industry.
The injection into the grid began in December 2025. A replicable example for other industries with residual organic matter flows.
Gunvor operates a plant in Palos de la Frontera dedicated to the production of second-generation biofuels from the valorization of used oils, primarily cooking oil, under a circular economy model. In this type of industrial facility, liquid waste streams typically include process water with a high organic load, residual oils and fatty acids, as well as organic byproducts from biodiesel treatment. These streams can be recovered for energy through anaerobic digestion to produce biogas and subsequently upgrade it to biomethane.
In the 19th International Congress of Bioenergy The different routes for utilizing biomethane will be analyzed: from injection into the grid, as in this case, to the production of energy in engines, use as fuel for transport or its integration as a renewable raw material for new advanced biofuels such as e-methanol.