Environmental green light for the pomace biogas plant in Oliva de Plasencia

The General Directorate of Sustainable Management and Forestry Policy of the Regional Ministry of Industry, Energy, Science and Territory has issued a favorable environmental impact report for the waste recovery plant (olive pomace) for biogas production projected in the municipality of Oliva de Plasencia. The resolution, signed on August 14, 2026, by the general director Juan Eloy Rodríguez Ucedo, concludes that the project is not expected to produce significant adverse impacts on the environment; therefore, it will not be necessary to subject it to an ordinary environmental impact assessment. The document is published in the Official Gazette of Extremadura number 163, dated August 24, 2026, with reference 2026062168 and file IA24/0025.

The project promoter is Desarrollos Bioenergéticos de Extremadura Alagón, SL, which submitted the environmental document on December 14, 2023, to the now-defunct General Directorate of Sustainability, completed on April 24, 2024. The action falls under Annex V of Law 16/2015, of April 23, on environmental protection of Extremadura, and Annex II, group 9, section b) of Law 21/2013, of December 9, on environmental assessment.

Location and project characteristics

The plant will be located on plot 13 of polygon 533 in Oliva de Plasencia, with an area of 180,011 m², accessed from the CC-212 road and the Pimpollar path. The facility will be developed in two phases and will exclusively treat olive pomace (LER code 02 03 01), with a maximum capacity of 50,000 t/year (25,000 t/year in the first phase).

• Planned solid digestate: 11,600 t/year.
• Planned liquid digestate: 30,416 t/year.
• Two olive pomace ponds of 25,000 m³ and one liquid digestate pond of 20,000 m³, waterproofed with high-density polyethylene geomembrane.
• Triton and tertiary type digesters, upgrading system to obtain biomethane, and an injection point to the gas pipeline within the plot.
• Olive stone biomass boiler of 351.5 kW and estimated water consumption of 5,000 m³/year.

Processing and consultations

During the processing, a dozen agencies and entities were consulted, including the Nature Conservation and Protected Areas Service, the Tagus Hydrographic Confederation, the City Council of Oliva de Plasencia, the General Directorate of Urbanism, Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda, and organizations such as Ecologistas en Acción, ADENEX, and SEO/BirdLife. The city council reported that the plot is located on common non-developable land, 1,370 m from the urban center, and that the activity will require rural classification and integrated environmental authorization. The Tagus Hydrographic Confederation noted that the plot is located within the catchment area of the sensitive zone Alcántara Reservoir II, without resting on groundwater bodies.

Conditions and monitoring

The report imposes corrective measures regarding odors, noise, light pollution, and groundwater protection, with periodic controls in the piezometers every three years by an accredited body and annually by the company. It also requires fauna exit ramps in the ponds, vegetative screens with native species, and that trucks access via the CC-212 from the A-66 highway without passing through the municipality. The digestate may be used as fertilizer or for agricultural application in accordance with Royal Decree 1051/2022.

The environmental impact report will lose its validity if the project is not authorized within five years of its publication, and it shall not be subject to appeal, without prejudice to those that may proceed against the act of authorization.

The resolution clears the main administrative hurdle for a facility that will process the alperujos (pomace) of the region—a complex-to-manage agro-industrial waste—and will produce biomethane and digestate reusable as fertilizer. Its implementation, however, remains subject to obtaining the rural classification, the integrated environmental authorization, and municipal licenses.

Source: Official Gazette of Extremadura, no. 163, August 24, 2026, section III Other Resolutions (official reference: 2026062168, file IA24/0025).