Metacon wins EU funding for biomethane-to-hydrogen pilot in Crete

Swedish clean energy technology company Metacon has secured EU project funding for a pilot plant that will produce hydrogen from biomethane at an existing industrial biogas facility on the Greek island of Crete.

The project, known as BIOH2VAP, will see Metacon’s fully owned Greek subsidiary Metacon SA construct a pilot plant at a biogas site in Ierapetra covering biogas upgrading, biomethane production and demonstration of reforming-based hydrogen generation.

The total project budget is 302,400 euros, of which 241,920 euros is covered by public funding.

Metacon says the pilot will validate its proprietary reforming technology under industrial conditions, with data collection aimed at evaluating technical performance, operating efficiency and commercial readiness. The project will also assess how hydrogen production can be integrated with existing biogas infrastructure and local residue streams.

Christer Wikner, president and chief executive of Metacon, said: “The BIOH2VAP project gives us a new industrial platform to demonstrate clean hydrogen production from biomethane and optimise its commercial potential. It expands our industrial testing base for our reforming technology and will support our commercialisation plans targeting future deployment at thousands of existing places internationally where biogas infrastructure and local renewables are already available.”