The biomethane plant, which will cost more than $69 million (350 million Brazilian real), will have a 28-million cubic metre capacity per crop and will be Atvos' first based on sugar cane waste.

 

Atvos, which is backed by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital, said the new facility is being built in Nova Alvorada do Sul, where it already has an ethanol factory.

 

The new operation will use vinasse and filter cake, waste resulting from the sugar cane production chain, as inputs.

 

Bruno Serapiao, chief executive of Atvos, said the unit will mark its "entry into the market for natural gas from renewable sources, with the advantage of producing it on a large scale to meet an ever-growing demand".

 

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"At the same time, we expanded our portfolio of sustainable solutions, and, above all, we effectively contributed to the transition of the energy matrix, following a circular economy concept, by disposing of and generating new revenues from waste from our production chain,” he said in a press statement.

 

The project will enter an engineering analysis phase for final approval, with construction expected to start this year, Atvos said.