Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Paul van Gelder, CEO of N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie, Lyudmila Orlova, General Director of Eurotechnika, and Sergey Chernin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BioGazEnergoStroy signed in Moscow a Memorandum of Understanding of the joint project for the development of “green” gas in Russia.

The document reflects the companies' intention to cooperate in the field of development of "green" gas in Russia and making the benefits of this gas available to the European Union.

According to the Memorandum, the parties will consider the possibility of a joint venture in Russia, prepare a business plan, and solve other organizational and legal matters to implement the pilot project for the development, certification and export of “green” gas to the Netherlands and subsequently throughout the European Union.

“Production and use of energy derived from renewable sources are becoming a more visible segment of the energy industry. “Green” gas occupies an important place here. Russia has a considerable potential for “green” gas production: in the long run it may amount to 35 billion cubic meters a year. I am confident that our joint work on development of this area will contribute significantly to the preservation of the environment and open new horizons for the Russian-EU energy cooperation,” said Alexander Medvedev.

“Green” gas is emerging in a number of countries as a real environmentally friendly energy source. It is an efficient way of making use of renewable biomass, utilizing the well developed natural gas infrastructure that is already in place, and the large potential in Russia for biogas production. Thus, we are increasing the proportion of renewable energy – in an affordable manner. This will also strengthen the pivotal role of natural gas in the sustainable energy mix of the future,” said Paul van Gelder.

“Bioenergy is a new sector of the national economy of our country. The development of the biogas industry is a solution not only to the problem of non-renewable energy resources depletion, but also to the problems of improving the economic efficiency of agricultural production through the introduction of fallow land into agricultural turnover for cultivation of energy crops on advanced technology-saving farming. Thereby, a steady intensification of agriculture will be ensured, as well as fertility of the soil of Russia maintained and restored,” said Lyudmila Orlova.

“Working in collaboration with Gazprom and Gasunie is a great honor for BioGazEnergoStroy. The signing of this Memorandum is a landmark in the history of bioenergy development in Russia. The use of advanced European technologies will allow the Russian biogas take its rightful place in the gas industry,” said Sergey Chernin.

Background

“Green” gas is methane of biological origin produced from biomass and treated to have the same gas quality as natural gas.

Gasunie is a European gas infrastructure company. Gasunie's network ranks among the largest high pressure gas pipeline grids in Europe, consisting of over 15,000 kilometers of pipeline in the Netherlands and northern Germany, dozens of installations and approximately 1,300 gas receiving stations. The annual gas throughput totals approximately 125 billion cubic meters. Gasunie offers transport services via its subsidiaries Gas Transport Services B.V. (GTS) in the Netherlands and Gasunie Deutschland in Germany. The company also offers other services in the gas infrastructure field, including gas storage and LNG.

On June 18, 2010 Gazprom and N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie signed the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation, which provides for the two companies' extended interaction in the field of gas transportation infrastructure, underground gas storage, Nord Stream gas pipeline construction, sci-tech cooperation, LNG, environmental protection, energy efficiency, information and cultural exchange, personnel management, etc.

Gasunie is interested in using its infrastructure and expertise for future development and integration of renewable energy sources, in particular, “green” gas.

Eurotechnika is a leading Russian agricultural machine-building company specializing in production of technological systems for growing crops using modern resource-saving technologies. The company is interested in creating a model of eco-friendly production of energy crops in Russia and securing supplies of raw materials for production of "green" gas.

BioGazEnergoStroy performs construction and installation of systems for processing organic waste into fertilizers and biogas.