Ence, the first company in Europe to certify the sustainability of its biomass through the SURE verification scheme


Ence – Energía y Celulosa has become the first company in Europe to start the process of certifying the sustainability of the biomass it consumes in all its facilities, through the SURE verification scheme.

The company’s biomass renewable energy generation plant in Mérida has been the group’s first facility to complete the audit of this certification system, to which Ence’s biofactory in Pontevedra has joined this week, which ended the process of verification of the requirements by the standard with satisfactory results. In this way, both facilities guarantee the full sustainability of the biomass consumed in their processes.

The audits were carried out successfully and without complications, after careful and intensive preparatory work by Ence’s Sustainability team. Furthermore, the SURE system has proven to be particularly practical and efficient. The process has been audited by the CEGANOR entity, the only Spanish company recognized and authorized by the Sure scheme to carry out the verification process, which operates in 31 countries.

The company has thus initiated a certification process that it expects to end at the end of the second half of the year, when the audits of the biomass consumed in its Navia biofactory and in the independent renewable energy generation plants that it has in place have been completed. Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha.

The SURE verification scheme is one of the tools developed to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (REDII). This European regulation establishes various criteria that all biomass used in the bioenergy sector must meet, focused on ensuring its sustainability, a correct mass balance, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency.

In this way, Ence is at the forefront, adapting in a pioneering way to the requirements of the European directive and anticipating, once again, the future of the sustainability of biomass as an energy source. The company began this path in 2017, when it released its Decalogue for the Sustainability of Biomass as Fuel, a pioneering initiative in Spanish companies, launched to guarantee total sustainability in the use of biomass and caring for the environment. environment in its use as a source of energy. For its preparation, the company relied on the criteria necessary for the sustainability of biomass established by some of the most important environmental organizations in Europe.

Ence is the first Spanish company in the production of renewable energy with agroforestry biomass. It has a total generation capacity of 266 MW in its independent power plants, to which are added 112 MW from its cellulose biofactories. Biomass is a renewable and manageable source of energy, which has great development potential in Spain. In addition, it has great environmental benefits, reducing emissions and contributing to the transition towards a low-carbon energy model.