SFP Group: independent renewable gas producer

Founded in 2020, SFP Group has quickly grown into a leading independent producer of renewable gas in the Netherlands. The company operates one of the country’s largest methanisation plants, helping to accelerate the energy transition in the transport and manufacturing sectors by increasing the production of green gas and bio-LNG. Harnessing the support of the second vintage of our SWIFT strategy, SFP Group intends to accelerate the large-scale development of its plants and expand its activities internationally.

Achieving strategic positioning

The company aims to produce biomethane and bio-LNG by building and operating biogas facilities in the Netherlands as well as other countries. Through the production of bio-LNG and the capture and use of liquid CO2, a product of anaerobic digestion that can be sold in the greenhouse horticulture market, SFP Group is able to supply low-carbon fuel.

SFP Group currently operates its SFP Zeeland facility and intends to develop, build and operate between eight and ten plants in all by 2030, focusing on growth in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Spain and Italy. It plans to integrate the entire bio-LNG value chain, from waste procurement to the sale of bio-LNG and its co-products. Economies of scale are central to the group’s strategy, which is prioritising large-scale projects. For example, SFP Group’s first methanisation plant to go into operation, SFP Zeeland, has a biomethane production capacity of 2,400 cubic metres per hour and can produce up to 20 kilotonnes of food-grade CO2 per year, compared to an average of 500 cubic metres per hour for other biomethane projects in the Netherlands. The SFP Group’s concept is different from competitors in that its facilities are reproducible and scalable. Redundancy, flexibility and space are critical factors of success for these plants.

Driving the group’s mission are its two co-founders, both seasoned and ambitious entrpreneurs with a strong track record in developing and operating large biogas plants. SFP Group’s focus is now to accelerate the large-scale development of its sustainable fuel (bio-LNG) production plants and begin expanding internationally in the next few years.

Capturing bio-LNG market growth

The development of the bio-LNG market has been stimulated by the gradual tightening of regulations for fuel providers and increasing demand for green fuels. The European Biogas Association estimates that total demand for bio-LNG in transport will reach 461 TWh by 2030 (source: European Biogas Association, “BioLNG in Transport: Making Climate Neutrality a Reality”). SFP therefore decided to expand its Zeeland site to produce an additional 1,800 cubic metres per hour of biomethane. This product can then be transformed into 25 tonnes of bio-LNG per day for sale to a major oil and gas company under a 10-year contract.