In Latvia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is boosting the country's biomethane production capacity and use of renewable fuels with a €26 million loan to SIA Next Biogas, a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based HoSt Group. EBRD’s investment will help HoSt Group to acquire an existing biogas plant in Lēdurga, Latvia, and convert it into a biomethane production facility.
Next Biogas is a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) newly incorporated in Latvia to develop and operate the Lēdurga biomethane production plant.
It is ultimately owned by HoSt Group, a Netherlands-based family-owned technology group specialising in renewable gases, heat, power, and bioenergy.
Once operational, the facility will be one of the largest biomethane – aka renewable natural gas (RNG) – plants in the country, producing around 80 GWh of biomethane annually, which will be transported and injected into the gas grid for both domestic use and export to European markets.
Each year, the facility will process approximately 137,500 tonnes of locally sourced farm by-products, including manure and grain residues, into 7.3 million Nm3 of biomethane – equivalent to the annual gas consumption of roughly 6,500 households – and 9,800 tonnes of biogenic carbon dioxide (bioCO2).
By injecting the green gas into the grid, the project provides a scalable, direct alternative to natural fossil gas.
According to HoSt, the RNG will serve heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) in the German transportation sector, diversifying Europe’s clean energy supply.
The remaining organic matter (digestate) from the anaerobic digestion process is returned to local farmers as nutrient-rich fertilizer, supporting local agriculture.
Strategic partnership with the EBRD
The financial backing for the project in Lēdurga by EBRD underscores its critical role in advancing Europe’s energy security, scaling up biomethane production capacity, and accelerating the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors.
The transaction agreement was signed on June 5, 2026, at the EBRD’s 2026 Annual Meeting in Riga, Latvia.
We are pleased to support HoSt Group in expanding biomethane production and strengthening the energy market in Latvia and the wider Baltic region. This project boosts energy security while accelerating the low-carbon transition, especially for hard-to-abate sectors, said Odile Renaud-Bass, President of EBRD at the event.
The EBRD’s loan benefits from a first-loss guarantee provided by the European Union through its InvestEU fund.
The EBRD is a leading implementing partner of the EU’s InvestEU programme, which supports sustainable investment, innovation, and job creation, and aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment in 2021-27.
Between 2022 and 2027, the EBRD will leverage InvestEU guarantees worth €777 million to finance investments of up to €3.8 billion in eligible sectors.
International collaboration is essential
The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Latvia, having invested more than €1.3 billion in the country to date.
The Bank’s activities focus on supporting Latvia’s transition to a greener and more resilient economy through investments in renewable energy, capital market development, and innovation-driven sectors.
Growing the country’s biomethane production capacity is also a key priority for Latvia, as it accelerates its efforts to build an independent, secure, and resilient energy system.
Latvia recently opened its first publicly accessible biomethane injection point and has advanced measures to boost local biomethane production.
This cross-border partnership further exemplifies the international collaboration essential to achieving these shared energy goals.
This strategically important project is supporting the development of a nascent biomethane market in Latvia and the Baltics. It will enhance energy security by substituting imported natural gas with locally produced low-carbon fuel, aligned with EU decarbonisation and autonomy objectives. The loan extension stands again as a testament to the EBRD as a key EU partner, active on shared priorities, commented Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, and Implementation and Simplification.
Energy-as-a-Service model
By investing in and operating its own renewable energy plants and through in-house manufacturing, HoSt Group can improve its technology portfolio faster, through a deeper understanding of customer needs, and maximize its contribution to a renewable and future-proof energy system.
Through this ‘Energy-as-a-Service’ (EaaS) model, HoSt acts as the sole owner and operator via its subsidiary, Next Biogas.
By fully managing the Lēdurga facility’s engineering, daily operations, and commercial output, the company enables the original owners to benefit from the partnership while focusing entirely on their agriculture.
On top of our own investments, our €26 million partnership with the EBRD directly accelerates HoSt Group’s strategy to develop, own, and operate critical green energy infrastructure. This sustainable investment proves the strong commercial viability of advanced biomethane projects and underscores our shared drive to power the energy transition. By transforming the Lēdurga plant into one of Latvia’s largest biomethane facilities, we are anchoring circular energy production in the region and making a tangible contribution to Europe’s energy security, concluded Arthur Vlaanderen, Group CFO of HoSt Group.
