Barcelona-based WtEnergy has raised €10 million in new funding to accelerate the decarbonisation of Europe’s heavy industries, including cement, chemicals, paper, and ceramics. The round was led by SC Net Zero Ventures and Suma Capital’s Climate Tech fund, with participation from Shell Ventures and Cemex Ventures.

The investment comes amid growing regulatory and market pressure on energy-intensive industries to reduce carbon emissions and divert industrial waste away from landfills and incineration.

Gasification Technology Targets Industrial Waste and Fossil Fuel Use

Founded in 2017 by Andrés Ponce and later joined by co-founder Antonio Crous in 2019, WtEnergy develops gasification systems that convert industrial waste and biomass into clean syngas. The syngas can replace fossil fuels and be further processed into low-carbon products such as hydrogen, methanol, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The company’s technology uses atmospheric gasification in bubbling fluidised-bed reactors, relying on autothermal reduction to convert solid waste and biomass into syngas. Contaminants are then removed using WtEnergy’s proprietary reforming process, enabling the gas to meet industrial energy and fuel standards.

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Modular Systems Designed for Factory Integration

WtEnergy offers modular plants ranging from 5 MW to 50 MW, designed to be integrated directly into existing industrial facilities. These systems can supply heat or power on-site, helping factories reduce both CO₂ emissions and energy costs, while supporting circular economy objectives through waste recovery.

Key features of the technology include small-scale modular deployment that avoids large new infrastructure builds, compatibility with existing factory operations, and flexible syngas outputs that can be used for power generation, hydrogen production, methanol synthesis, and SAF. The company positions its approach as offering faster payback periods compared to traditional large-scale energy infrastructure.

Building on EU Grants and Early Industrial Deployments

The €10 million funding builds on a €4.4 million EU grant awarded in 2023 to Cemex for projects incorporating WtEnergy’s technology. Unlike gasification players such as Enerkem or Sierra Energy, WtEnergy focuses specifically on energy-intensive industrial users in the European Union and has already demonstrated operational results in industrial settings.

One reference project is Cemex’s Alicante facility, which the company views as a model for wider replication across Europe.

Explore OneStop ESG Marketplace: Waste management

Expansion Plans and Capacity Targets

The new capital will support WtEnergy’s 2026 project pipeline, starting with cement and ceramics facilities in Spain before expanding to other EU markets. In the near term, the company plans to standardise plant designs above 20 MW, launch syngas-to-SAF pilot projects in collaboration with Shell, and double the size of its team.

Looking further ahead, WtEnergy aims to reach 100 MW of operational capacity by 2028, expand into the chemicals and paper sectors, and scale its industrial deployment model across Europe to support heavy industries in meeting net-zero targets.

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