IRTA will begin the construction of a biogas plant at Mas Bové (1), where several pig and poultry farming facilities are already located. Until now, waste management from these farms has been handled by an external service. With this new plant, the goal is to internalize waste treatment while harnessing it to generate biogas— a renewable energy source that will be used for the self-consumption of IRTA’s own facilities.
In addition to energy production, the plant will produce a digested material that will be treated and transformed into water suitable for irrigation. In the context of ongoing drought, this initiative will contribute to a more efficient management of water resources, facilitating irrigation at IRTA Mas Bové's agricultural fields. The plant will be managed directly by IRTA.
Moreover, the biogas plant will serve a dual purpose: besides enhancing IRTA’s internal sustainability, it will function as a demonstration facility to transfer knowledge to the agri-food sector and as a platform for experimentation with future trials and technological developments in bioenergy and waste management.
The construction of a second biogas plant is already planned as part of IRTA’s strategic plan. This new facility (2) will share the same goal of sustainable waste management and renewable energy production but will incorporate different technologies to explore new solutions in the sector.
(1) This project, as established in the Resolution of the Secretariat of State for Energy and the Presidency of E.P.E Instituto para la Diversificación y Ahorro de la Energía (IDAE), M.P., is funded by the “First Call for the Incentive Program for Singular Projects of Biogas Installations, within the framework of the «Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan – Funded by the European Union–NextGenerationEU».” Its regulatory bases are established in Order TED/706/2022, of July 21, 2022, from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Official State Gazette No. 178, July 26, 2022).
(2) This project is being carried out with the support of the “AGROECONOMIA CIRCULAR” and “BIOENERGIA” projects, funded by the Climate Fund Projects line of the Government of Catalonia.
