MHP, the agricultural holding that includes Ukraine's largest poultry producer, said it has started commercial production of liquefied biomethane (Bio-LNG) and has finalised its first export shipment to the European Union.
In a press release on Friday, MHP said its Bio-LNG, produced entirely from poultry manure and other agricultural waste, is the first liquefied biomethane made in Ukraine.
"The launch of Bio-LNG exports confirms MHP's leadership in bioenergy and innovation … We are turning poultry waste into climate-positive fuel that can power trucks and ships across Europe today," said Adomas Audickas, Deputy CEO of MHP Group responsible for bioenergy development.
In February, MHP became the second Ukrainian company to export biomethane, Interfax Ukraine reported at the time. MHP exported 27,400 cubic metres of biomethane across the Ukrainian-Polish border, where it was sold to energy major Vitol.
The first Ukrainian company to export biomethane was Ukrainian energy holding Vitagro, which, also in February, made a 67,000 cubic meter shipment to the EU.
In 2023, the EU and Ukraine signed a deal to form a strategic partnership on biomethane, hydrogen, and other synthetic gases. This builds on the bloc's REPowerEU plan, launched after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, aimed at strengthening Europe's energy independence.
The plan sets a target for the EU to produce 35 billion cubic meters of biomethane annually by 2030, with an estimated €37 billion needed in investments.
Biomethane, a cleaned-up form of biogas similar to natural gas, can be used for heating, power, and transport. Importantly, it can flow through existing gas networks, making it easy to adopt on a large scale.
Liquid biomethane takes up less space, so more of it can be stored in the same area compared to biomethane in gas form.
Partner Comment
Vitaliy Radchenko, partner for Energy & Projects at CMS, a partner law firm of Ukraine Rebuild Newswire, offers the following comment on the above story (Radchenko also serves on the board of UABio, a non-profit for the development of bioenergy in Ukraine):
"We were happy to see MHP's first export of biomethane from Ukraine in liquefied form. Even more so - that Vitol, one of the world's largest energy traders, was the buyer of it.
As you may recall, Vitagro and MHP had already exported biomethane to the EU by pipeline. In both instances - whether pipeline, or liquefied biomethane, one of the European voluntary certification schemes (e.g., ISCC in this case) was used to verify compliance with the EU legal requirements for sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions savings criteria for the biomethane produced in Ukraine. ISCC also ensured that the entire supply chain, from feedstock to final product, adheres to high sustainability and traceability standards of the EU. This includes verifying the origin and sustainability of the biomass used in biomethane production.
Liquefaction of biomethane is just one extra stage in a biomethane production project. It increases the project's CAPEX, but at the same time allows the producer to ship the final product in liquefied form by trucks. These days that helps to avoid some regulatory, if not political, uncertainty over acceptance of the Ukrainian pipeline biomethane in Germany, which is the key premium market for biomethane in the EU."
For more details on biomethane projects in Ukraine and export of biomethane to the EU please contact CMS at vitaliy.radchenko@cms-cmno.com
