New Biomethane Plant in Southern Italy Will Supply Gas Equal to About 3,200 Homes
Axpo's Grottole plant turns farm by-products into renewable gas and fertiliser, avoiding roughly 9,000 tonnes of CO2 a year compared with natural gas.
Photo: Cinzia astorino / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Energy company Axpo has begun feeding renewable gas from its new Grottole plant in Basilicata, southern Italy, into the national gas grid. The company announced the first injection on July 9, 2026, calling it the first gas from a biomethane plant that Axpo owns outright. Good News Network covered the milestone on October 13.
What the plant does
Grottole uses agricultural by-products from regional farms to make low-carbon gas and fertiliser. Axpo bought the project in 2024 as a ready-to-build development.
- Output: 45 GWh of renewable gas per year
- Equivalent to: the average gas use of about 3,200 Italian households
- Emissions: about 9,000 tonnes of direct CO2 avoided per year compared with natural gas, according to Axpo
- Ramp-up: full capacity is expected within up to six months of start-up
- Customer: a long-term supply contract with the Italian paper mill Cartiere del Garda
Why it matters
Biomethane can use the existing gas network, so it can replace some fossil gas without new pipes or appliances. For Italy, which produces little natural gas itself, home-grown renewable gas is also a way to diversify supply. The paper mill's contract is meant to help it cut emissions from its production sites.
Context
These figures come from the company's own release, and the plant was still ramping up when it was announced. Axpo also runs biogas and biomethane operations in Switzerland, Poland and Spain. Biomethane remains a small part of the overall energy mix, and its climate benefit depends on how the feedstock is sourced and handled.