Biomethane is considered a sustainable energy source. It can be used not only to generate electricity and heat, but also as a fuel, thus making a decisive contribution to climate and environmental protection. As part of an accelerator program funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC), Electrochaea, a company based in Planegg near Munich, has now been able to bring its innovative technology for climate-neutral biomethane production to commercial scale.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has supported the work of the power-to-gas specialist with a total of 17.5 million euros over the past three years. The company relies on so-called archaea for the production of biomethane. These phylogenetically ancient microorganisms act as biocatalysts and their metabolism ensures that CO₂ and green hydrogen are converted into methane in just one step.

Successful upscaling through EIC funding

“The EIC Accelerator program was a fantastic opportunity for Electrochaea to scale our technology to a commercially relevant size and to develop the BioCat-Roslev project based on a new and more efficient design,” says Doris Hafenbradl, CTO and Managing Director of Electrochaea.

Archetype design successfully integrated into demonstration plant

As part of the Accelerator program, Electrochaea says it has successfully brought its biomethanation technology to industrial scale with an archetype design with an electrical output of 10 MWe (megawatts electrical). At the same time, the new archetype design has also been successfully integrated into the operation of a biogas upgrading and grid feed-in plant in Denmark as part of the BioCat Roslev project.

With the help of EIC funding, it was possible to make the plant design even more efficient and cost-effective, thereby significantly reducing the investment and operating costs of the biomethanization technology to the benefit of customers, Electrochaea reports. In addition, significant progress was also made during the funding period in the approval, technology integration and optimization of the business model for the BioCat-Roslev project.

Well positioned for commercial deployment

“With the completion of the program, Electrochaea is well positioned to deploy its technology commercially and make a decisive contribution to the urgently needed production of renewable methane,” the company writes in its press release. Electrochaea already operates demonstration plants in Denmark and Switzerland. The technology for the microbial production of synthetic methane has also received 9.5 million euros in funding from the Danish Network Agency.

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