Suma Capital has acquired 80% of the share capital of ATH Bioenergy, a company specialized in the production and marketing of biomethane, as confirmed to Maspalomas24H by a director of the venture capital fund SC Climate Impact Fund III. From Arinaga it will focus on capturing waste from the hotel sector in the south of Gran Canaria. The operation has been advised on the seller's side by Alantra and Andersen Legal, and on the buyer's side by KPMG, Arup and Baker McKenzie. This is a pioneering initiative aimed at transforming the energy and waste recovery landscape in the Canary Islands towards a more sustainable and competitive future. The remaining 20% of the capital will continue in the hands of the promoter, the Swiss company Tibanna AG. The operation has been carried out through the venture capital fund (private equity) SC Climate Impact Fund III.
ATH Bioenergy aims to build four biomethane and fertilizer production plants with an approximate investment of 100 million euros. The construction schedule, which will begin in stages in the summer of 2024, will cover the Gran Canaria plant in the Port of Arinaga, followed by facilities in Tenerife, Fuerteventura and, finally, Lanzarote. The innovative essence of ATH Bioenergy lies in its revolutionary approach to the management and recovery of organic waste, including hotel and supermarket waste, pruning waste and organic matter. These materials will be transformed into biogas and biomethane, reintegrated into hotels and marketed to other industries committed to decarbonizing their energy consumption. In the words of Ruperto Unzué, partner of SC Infra of Suma Capital, "we are excited to be able to have a top-level team, which provides deep knowledge of the sector and the energy and waste market on the islands" since "it is about a revolutionary and ambitious project that reflects, like few others, the concepts of circularity and decarbonization," he points out.
This circular model will provide the Canary Islands with a green and local alternative to the importation of fossil fuels, specifically LPG, currently the main energy consumption in the archipelago. In addition, ATH Bioenergy will address the current challenge of waste management on the islands, playing a key role in the treatment and recovery of organic waste, and thus contributing to the reduction of landfill discharges. The plants will process approximately 120.000 tons of organic waste, mostly from hotel chains with which letters of intent for collection and management have already been signed.
The investment in ATH Bioenergy becomes the fifth operation of the sustainable infrastructure fund managed by Suma Capital, the SC Climate Impact Fund III, after the operations in Adec Global (slag recovery and aggregate treatment), Zamora Eco Energías (energy networks renewable heat), Biomethane Montes de Toledo (production of biomethane and compost) and the Italian CH4T (transformation of biogas plants). This fund, classified as Article 9 according to the SFDR regulation, has a size of 300 million euros and focuses on investing in companies or projects that promote the fight against climate change, promoting the energy transition and the circular economy in Europe.
