Tresca Ingeniería estimates that only four or five biomethane plants are now under construction in Spain. Planned projects could reach 400 facilities, with investment of around €4 billion.
The market remains young.
A project in León financed by ING is expected to begin operating in the first quarter of 2027. The €42.5 million facility is designed to produce 125 GWh of biomethane a year while capturing CO₂.
Energy and fuel prices are rising again, putting renewable gas higher on investors’ agendas.
Avebiom president Javier Díaz says biogas and biomethane offer a strong chance for Castilla y León and Spain as a whole. Biomethane can use existing natural gas networks, so homes and factories would not need to change their installations.
Castilla y León has one clear advantage: its agricultural and livestock activity can supply the raw material needed to make biogas. Tresca Ingeniería estimates that the region could host about 15% of the plants planned across Spain.
The issue is how much energy can be made, where it is produced and who benefits.
At the opening of the Congreso Internacional de Bioenergía in Valladolid, Díaz pointed to Spain's more than 100,000 kilometres of gas networks. They already connect industry and households. Biomethane could use them to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Díaz also said production could keep more economic value and jobs in Spain.
Industry estimates put Castilla y León’s biomethane potential at 37.78 TWh per year, or 23.2% of Spain’s total estimated potential. The region already has four plants injecting biomethane into the gas network. The regional administration says 20 projects have received environmental approval, while another 107 remain under review, including 55 in public consultation.
The figures help explain the region’s appeal. Permits will matter.
The sixth renewable gas exhibition and the nineteenth edition of the Congreso Internacional de Bioenergía are taking place over two days at the Feria de Valladolid. The event has 275 exhibitors, 60% of them foreign companies.
Organisers expect more than 4,000 professional visitors from over 25 countries. Project finance and regulation are among the topics under discussion, along with connecting new plants to the gas grid.
Household and business costs are also under pressure, as described in an earlier housing report.
Jorge Villeta, Tresca Ingeniería's director of Business and Corporate Development, calls the Spanish sector incipient. He says investors are showing clear interest. His estimate of the construction pipeline points to a wide gap between the few plants now being built and the much larger number of projects under consideration.
The permitting figures show that gap: far more projects remain under examination than have received environmental approval, the Castilla y León administration reports.
Access to the network and investment terms will matter as much as the supply of agricultural and livestock feedstock. The time needed to move a project from approval to construction will matter too.
Joaquín Antonio Pino, the councillor for Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment and Environmental Policy, said the transition cannot be carried out against the countryside. He called for biogas and biomethane plants to be profitable for rural areas and useful to farmers and livestock owners, as well as village residents.
His position reflects the regional policy argument that agricultural and livestock waste can produce energy and fertiliser while bringing extra income to local areas.
Regulation now sits at the centre of the investment case. Industry talks involving European and Spanish authorities have covered possible biomethane quotas. They have also addressed access to the gas network and funding for infrastructure upgrades.
Sedigas and other sector participants have described those issues as practical conditions for moving projects from environmental approval to construction and grid injection.
Castilla y León has the raw material, existing gas networks and a projected €4 billion pipeline. The rural test is clear.
Projects must bring income and jobs to the communities that supply their raw materials, along with local tax value. Biomethane has moved beyond a technology promise; its credibility will depend on what reaches the countryside.
