In Lithuania, AB Kaišiadorių Paukštynas, an indirect subsidiary of AB Akola Group, has announced plans to build a biomethane production plant in the Kaišiadorys district. Construction start of the estimated EUR 19.4 million investment is expected in the first quarter of 2026.
One of the largest agribusiness companies in the Baltic region, AB Akola Group currently comprises over 60 companies operating in four core business areas: farming, partnership with farmers, food production, and small businesses like pet food production, pest control, and veterinary.
This planned investment aims to increase the Group’s sustainability and profitability. The biomethane plant will allow for more sustainable management of large volumes of bio-waste and reduce environmental pollution. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will be reduced by around 29,000 tonnes annually, and methane emissions will diminish. We estimate that the biomethane plant will generate an annual EBITDA (operating profit before depreciation, amortization, and impairment of fixed assets) of EUR 4.3 million and pay for itself in 7 years and 4 months. We plan to implement the project largely with borrowed funds, with a planned borrowing amount of around EUR 14 million, commented Mažvydas Šileika, CFO of AB Akola Group.
The planned biomethane plant, which is expected to be constructed on a site owned by AB Kaišiadorių Paukštynas in Kaišiadorys district will have four biogas reactors and will be able to produce up to 1,000 Nm3 of biomethane per hour.
The biomethane aka renewable natural gas (RNG) will be produced using chicken, cow manure, slurry, and other biodegradable waste, with 120,000 – 140,000 tonnes of biowaste to be processed annually.
A share of the raw materials for the future plant, around 20,000 tonnes per year, is planned to be purchased from farmers, thus contributing to their economic growth and reducing environmental pollution.
The production in the future plant will be certified according to ISCC or RedCert international standards.
Natural gas consumption is very high in poultry farming because birds need stable heat to grow, so farms are heated with gas. Biomethane could replace natural gas in many cases. As our farming companies generate a lot of organic waste, we are already implementing a project to construct one biomethane plant in Lithuania. However, the biogas plant that will start operating in the village of Plyniai in Šakiai district at the end of 2025 will only be able to process a part of the organic waste generated by dairy and poultry farms – every year, 120,000 tonnes of waste would still be left unprocessed in the poultry farms and farming companies of AB Akola Group in Lithuania and would be accumulated. The biomethane plant in Kaišiadorys would avoid the problems caused by the accumulation of biowaste and, at the same time, reduce the use of fossil fuels, producing almost 85 GWh of biomethane annually. We expect to have virtually no unprocessed organic waste within our Group after. Moreover, the production process will generate more than 285,000 tonnes of digestate annually, a potential substitute for mineral nitrogen fertilizer. Once both power plants are operational, we will save up to 42,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, which is already a significant environmental achievement, said Andrius Pranckevičius, Deputy CEO of AB Akola Group.
