TotalEnergies invests in Ductor to develop biogas projects

TotalEnergies SE (EPA:TTE) announced on Wednesday an investment in Finnish biotechnology start-up Ductor along with a partnership between the two that will focus on the development of biogas and organic fertiliser projects across the US and Europe.

The French energy major said it has acquired a 20% stake in Ductor, which has developed a technology that turns high-nitrogen feedstocks and organic waste from the agricultural sector into biogas and fertilisers. The Finnish start-up currently has two plants in Mexico and Germany, as well as various projects in the pipeline.

The two companies will set up a joint venture to develop and invest in 15 to 20 anaerobic digestion facilities that will produce renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as biomethane, and organic fertilisers, utlising Ductor’s proprietary circular biotechnology.

The Finnish firm will be in charge of identifying and realising opportunities with development, construction and operational support from TotalEnergies, and will also market the speciality fertilisers produced at the plants. TotalEnergies, in turn, will off-taker all of the produced biomethane.

“By accelerating the biogas chain, this technology contributes directly to the energy transition and to TotalEnergies' ambition of producing 20 TWh of biogas worldwide by 2030," said Olivier Guerrini, vice president for biogas at TotalEnergies.

The French group is already active in the European biogas market, having a production capacity of 1.1 TWh.

“The partnership with TotalEnergies will allow us to move forward faster and rapidly develop our project portfolio,” Ductor's CEO Bernard Fenner noted.

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