Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), a state-owned, industrial and commercial public utilities organisation in Colombia, has begun operating the country's first biomethane plant as it seeks to diversify its clean energy portfolio.
Located in Itaguí, in the greater metropolitan area of Medellín, the facility will produce around 1,200m3/h of biogas, EPM said.
It will initially be used to provide cooking gas to 40,000 homes in Antioquia department.
The gas will be transported to households via the company's pipeline infrastructure, with EPM saying it can also be used to fuel thermoelectric power plants.
The plant, which required investment of US$5 million (€4.7 million), transforms organic matter into a renewable energy source through anaerobic digestion.
"The transition requires diversification ... with renewable sources, for which clean, reliable and economically viable energy is essential," EPM chief executive Jorge Carillo said.
He continued: "It serves as an option for thermal needs and non-electrifiable demands in the medium term."
"As an organisation, we are betting on alternative energies such as biomethane that contribute to people's quality of life and environmental care."
EPM begins operating Colombia’s first biomethane plant
