Joint venture: Storengy Deutschland and CM Fluids combine expertise to produce bio-LNG

Berlin/ Rohrbach, 29 September 2022. Storengy Deutschland, a company of ENGIE Group, and CM Fluids, a start-up and biogas specialist from Bavaria, are establishing a joint venture. The aim of this partnership is to produce liquid biomethane (bio-LNG) for use as a climate-neutral fuel for buses and lorries.

Construction of a liquefaction plant for producing bio-LNG
The companies plan to build a bio-LNG liquefaction plant on the site of a biogas plant in the Nuremberg region. This biogas plant is fed with the remains of regional vegetable production, horse manure and grass mown at Nuremberg Airport. This renewably produced biogas shall be liquefied and processed to produce liquid bio-CH₄ (CH₄: biomethane) and bio-CO₂. The biomethane will ultimately be made available to customers in the transport sector for refuelling. About 700 tonnes of bio-LNG will be produced each year. This means that around 2,800 vehicles can be refuelled in a few minutes with a 250 kilogram tank filling. One tank filling corresponds to a range of up to 1,500 kilometres. The bio-CO₂ will be made available to prospective customers for use, for example, in industry.

Using bio-LNG for climate-neutral transport
The German federal government has set ambitious targets to make transport climate-friendly. Compared with 1990, CO₂ emissions in transport need to be reduced by 65 million tonnes by 2030. After the energy sector and industry, the transport sector is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, with around 20 per cent of CO₂ emissions. Bio-LNG can make a significant contribution to achieving the climate targets. This is because vehicles powered by bio-LNG are completely CO₂-neutral, environmentally friendly and economical. Compared with diesel buses, they emit up to 95 per cent less particulate matter and cause 50 per cent less noise. As part of the joint venture, the bio-LNG is produced regionally in a local biogas plant and achieves particularly high CO₂ savings. Since the bio-LNG is produced directly at the biogas plant and transport routes are thus avoided, the ecological footprint is particularly small.

Accelerating the market ramp-up in Germany
For Storengy Deutschland, this joint venture is an important step in consolidating its strategic focus in the renewable gases sector. More than 20 production sites for generating biomethane are already operated in France by the company’s French subsidiary, Storengy SAS. This experience and expertise will be used, together with CM Fluids, to drive the market ramp-up of bio-LNG in Germany. In line with the ENGIE Group’s mission, this will accelerate the transition to climate neutrality for both the economy and society.

“We see considerable potential in using bio-LNG to decarbonise the transport sector and achieve the German government’s climate protection goals,” says Daniel Mercer, Head of Business Development at Storengy Germany and Managing Director of the joint venture company. “With this project, we first want to expand our market position and then develop it further along the biomethane value chain. Our first major goal is to produce 1.2 TWh of biomethane per year by 2030.”

Lena Friedmann, Head of Business Area at CM Fluids and Managing Director of the joint venture company, is convinced that the partnership with Storengy Deutschland will be a success model and lay the foundation for many more joint liquefaction plants. “CM Fluids develops fruitful collaborations on an equal footing with operators of existing biogas plants, plans the facilities, obtains the permits and takes care of the product marketing as well as the operation of the plants. It’s particularly in this broad field of activity that we’re also hoping for support from our new partner – we’re looking forward to working together.”

Press Release