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Biogas facility world first brings milk run concept to AD farms lacking gas network connection
20/4/2026
News
The world’s first on-farm gas liquefaction plant has been inaugurated in Brittany, France, and aims to turn animal waste into profitable energy products. The demonstrator factory (called ‘Charlie’) follows the traditional model of the milk run, in which raw product is collected from nearby farms before being processed (by cryogenic distillation) in a central facility. This allows farms which produce biogas through anaerobic digestion (AD) to market it, even if they cannot connect to mains gas. Supplier Sublime Gas estimates that this potential market will be 26 TWh by 2050 in France.
The demonstrator facility would be one of those central facilities, collecting raw biomethane from small or remote farms, plus its own production, and turning it into bioLNG. At the same time, the plant also captures a co-product of biogas – bioCO2, which is said to replace fossil CO2 for agricultural and industrial uses. The bioLNG can also be used to fuel heavy vehicles as an alternative to diesel.
Installed at the Gazéa farm, in Côtes-d’Armor, France, the facility has a production output of 180 tonnes of bioLNG and 330 tonnes of liquid bioCO2. Commissioning and testing will precede start of initial production later this year.
‘There is no future for agriculture in Brittany without livestock farming. Yet the future of livestock farming depends on the democratisation of biogas production and the support of this production. Sublime Energie’s model is a concrete solution to help livestock farms adapt,’ said farmer Alain Guillaume, Founder of Gazéa and of the French Association of Methanizing Farmers.
Sublime Energie’s next project, aimed to be commissioned by 2028, intends to connect 10 farms in the area to a shared processing hub.
In related news, the European Commission has approved a €3.7bn Czech plan to develop a biomethane market for transport, heating and industry with a price support scheme for new biomethane producers and existing biogas stations converted to biomethane.
The price scheme will involve a two-way contract for difference (CfD) that provides a bonus to producers selected through competitive tendering. It is expected to support installations with a total output of up to 350mn m3 of sustainable methane.
The scheme was approved under the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework implemented last year.
