Zenith Energy to buy Italian biogas project for up to €1.6 million

Zenith Energy Ltd on July 20 agreed to buy 100% of the issued share capital of an Italian biogas developer for up to €1.6 million. The binding Letter of Intent and Exclusivity covered a target that owns the rights to develop a fully permitted, fully engineered and construction-ready biogas production facility in Italy.

The company said the transaction remained subject to completion of the proposed acquisition. Zenith also targeted green project financing by the end of the third quarter of 2026 and expected completion in the fourth quarter, leaving the value in handoff-ready development rights as much as in any near-term construction start.

Zenith Energy, which trades in London and Oslo, did not identify the target in its announcement. The deal gives Zenith a foothold in Italy’s biomethane and biogas buildout at a moment when permitting, engineering and grid-ready project rights have become the scarce asset. In this case, the target already held the rights to a facility described as fully permitted, fully engineered and construction-ready, which moves the acquisition beyond a pure land play and into a near-delivery development pipeline.

Italy’s biogas sector accelerated after the Ministerial Decree of December 18, 2008 introduced an advantageous feed-in tariff, creating the policy base for the market that followed. More recently, Italy’s first biogas-to-biomethane plant for industrial use began producing biomethane on October 2, 2024 under the 2022 Ministerial Decree. Against that backdrop, Zenith is not buying a standalone operating plant, but a project that already has the regulatory and technical work largely in place, with financing and closing now the remaining hurdles.