Manure Into Millions: CIP's €1.5B Green Gamble

CIP's €1.5B Advanced Bioenergy Fund II, anchored by a €200M EIF commitment, targets Europe's growing biomethane shortfall

1 Jun 2026

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners has opened its Advanced Bioenergy Fund II for investment, backed by a €200 million cornerstone commitment from the European Investment Fund. The vehicle targets €1.5 billion in total capital, making it the largest dedicated biomethane infrastructure fund yet launched in Europe.

The fund will finance greenfield anaerobic digestion projects across Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, and Finland. These plants convert agricultural manure and organic waste into biomethane, feeding it into existing gas pipelines and supplying hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as heavy industry and maritime transport.

The scale is deliberate. ABF II is roughly double the size of CIP's 2023 predecessor fund, which committed more than 80 per cent of its capital before it closed.

Production capacity in Europe sits at around 22 billion cubic metres per year, against a REPowerEU target of 35 bcm by 2030. Oxford researchers warn the shortfall could reach between 20 and 23 bcm without a significant acceleration in capital deployment. By blending EIF public capital with private institutional money, ABF II is structured to reduce early-stage project risk and attract additional investment across its five target markets.

Thomas Dalsgaard, CIP's head of advanced bioenergy, said demand for domestic biomethane was strong, and that the fund's established greenfield pipeline positioned it well to deliver at pace.

Backed by both InvestEU and REPowerEU, the EIF commitment signals active EU policy support for mobilising institutional capital behind renewable gas targets. CIP manages more than €37 billion in clean energy infrastructure across more than 30 countries. Whether that track record translates into operating plants at the pace the 2030 targets demand remains the central question.