Marseille, March 1, 2021 – The CVE Group and Sem’Soleil, alongside Bpifrance, Le Crédit Coopératif and BNP Paribas, successfully reached a €12.8 million financing deal, including €9 million in long-term bank financing. Its main purpose is to enable to construction and commissioning of the Montbrison methanation unit in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

The idea of the local methanation project in Montbrison came about in 2010 from elected leaders in Pays du Forez. It was developed by CVE in partnership with Sem’Soleil and the support of local governments, the Loire Forez metro area, and the city of Montbrison, with the circular economy in mind. The Montbrison plant, a major project for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, received €1.1 million in financial support from the regional development fund for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, €525,000 from the ADEME (Environmental Agency) of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and €261,000 from the Loire-Bretagne Water Authority.

Located in Montbrison, in the Les Granges industrial park of the Loire Forez metro area, this methanation unit is a logical, example-setting project for the region. It will be able to process 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of organic materials, mostly procured from within a 45 km radius. This unit will produce organic fertilizer for nearby farmers and storable local green energy in the form of renewable biomethane, which is then injected into the local natural gas grids. This represents the equivalent of what 3800 households consume. Construction began in late January 2021 and is now underway. The unit is expected to enter service in spring 2022. The injection of biomethane into the GrDF grid will begin by the end of summer 2022.

With the financing of its fourth methanation project, the CVE Group, one of a small number of players in the French biogas sector, has solidified its positioning as a producer of multiple sources of energy and its vision of the market based on decentralized energy production.

This branch of the business, started more recently than photovoltaics, poses unique financing challenges.

“CVE has once again demonstrated its expertise in complex financing for sources of energy less well-known than photovoltaics, and has done so with fast turnaround. This deal also confirms Bpifrance’s steady support, as it finances a 4th project (its third in 12 months) and continues our partnership with Le Crédit Coopératif. This financing also marks BNP Paribas’ arrival as one of CVE’s financial partners,”

Cyril Gilot, Director of Investments at CVE.

“Bpifrance is proud to once again assist the CVE Group in this new project in cooperation with banking partners. The Group has remained true to its desire to make the energy transition central to its development strategy, a challenge it shares with Bpifrance’s strategy as part of our Climate Plan”

Nicolas Magenties, Regional Director of Bpifrance in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.

“Le Crédit Coopératif is the CVE Group’s historic financial partner. We are happy to assist the company again today. This Montbrison methanation unit project confirms our commitment, and our client’s, to a local economy that serves the energy transition”

Mehdi Farah, project manager at Crédit Coopératif.

“CVE is positioning itself as a multi-source renewables leader as electricity generation goes through a necessary transition. Our new partnership, which begins within the financing of this methanation unit, makes it possible to work with CVE and join its environmental commitment. We thank all the teams at CVE for their confidence in us.”

The team in charge of project financing at BNP.

The CVE Group, a co-founding member of the think tank France Biométhane created in March 2016, has set itself a goal of achieving 0.6 TWh of annual biomethane production from the recycling of 600,000 tons of organic waste a year by 2025.

Besides the Montbrison project, CVE owns another Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes biomethane project, in Aoste, Isère, which will begin construction in the summer of 2021. Furthermore, in 2021, the CVE Group will put two biomethane units into service: In Saint Antoine de Breuilh, Dordogne, and Equimeth, Seine-et-Marne. CVE currently has about thirty methanation units in construction or in development, and two operational sites.

Team members:

  • Lenders: Bpifrance (Hanna Fitoussi, Benjamin Savean, Laurent Alameda, and Thomas Sennelier), Crédit Coopératif (Mehdi Farah, Anthony Degouve, Sylvere KameniNgom, and Thierry Mathieu) and BNPP (Yves Floch, Guillaume Du Mesnil, Olivier Lardillon, Laure Caretti, and Frédéric Bonifazio)
  • Deal advisors:
  • Legal: Ravet & Associés (Richard Jadot and Valérie Claver)
  • Technical: Ivaloé (Sylvie Fleury)
  • Insurance: A2Risk (Aline Devaux)
  • CVE: Olivier Bonin and Jean-Baptiste Peroni (CVE Green Finance) and Marion Luciani (legal team)