Every day, factories across Europe produce mountains of by-products – sawdust, wood chip, fibre cuttings – leftovers from furniture making, board production and paper mills. Most of it still goes to waste, burned off or left unused. However, there is the option to incorporate it into a circular energy system. But what if those scraps could be used to generate power?
That's the idea behind Meva Energy, a Swedish clean-tech pioneer turning industrial biomass residues into renewable gas, heat and power. Instead of relying on fossil gas – mostly methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases – Meva Energy’s technology allows manufacturers to turn waste into clean energy.
From residue to resource
Meva Energy's breakthrough relies on an innovative gasification technology that turns industrial biomass residues into a clean, renewable gas called biogas. Inside Meva Energy's compact reactors, these materials are heated in a low-oxygen environment and transformed into a high-energy gas that can decarbonize industrial heat and power applications. The company’s technology boasts a negative footprint – meaning it removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits, creating a net negative contribution to atmospheric carbon and going beyond carbon neutrality.
The process also produces biochar, a carbon-rich by-product that can store carbon or be reused in manufacturing. Beyond energy, biochar has additional value: it can be used to enhance soil health and even be used as feed additive for cattle to promote gut health and reduce methane emissions.
What makes Meva Energy’s technology powerful is that the system can be deployed onsite in compact, modular units, allowing companies and industries to turn their own residues into local, circular energy sources.
"Our goal is to enable a large-scale decarbonisation of the hard to abate manufacturing industry. We want to show that waste can be a valuable resource — and that in some cases, clean energy can even come from the factory floor itself.
Niclas Davidsson
CEO, Meva Energy
Bridging innovation and investment
Meva Energy has a commercial plant in Sweden and plans to build two more in Poland and Sweden. To help Meva Energy scale its technology and attract investors, EIB Advisory experts reviewed and enhanced the company's business plan and financial model exploring sales options, mapping steps to achieve financial close, reviewing the commercial strategy and market context, and assessing how Meva Energy’s waste-sourcing strategy aligns to national plans.
“Our goal was to help Meva Energy bridge the gap between breakthrough clean technology and investment readiness to scale”, said Vasco Ferreira Costa, the EIB Advisory expert leading this assignment. "By refining their business plan, enhancing financial models, and aligning their strategy with EU climate and circular economy goals in mind, we supported Meva Energy’s journey toward scalable, bankable, and impactful energy solutions.”
Meva Energy now plans to move from its current plant to full commercial operations across Europe. Their model revolves around the formula ‘energy as a service’, where Meva Energy designs, owns and operates onsite plants, secures industrial off-takers and aligns its activities with EU regulatory frameworks, circular equation goals and climate targets.
“EIB Advisory’s review of our waste sourcing strategy and alignment with national plans ensured that our product offering can be scaled responsibly and sustainably across Europe.” said Davidsson. "The advisory support was critical in bridging the gap between our innovative technology and the financial markets, allowing us to reach out to investors and secure financing." This advisory assignment was designed in collaboration with the EIB Cleantech Venture Debt Team, intending to prepare Meva Energy for future financing, including through venture debt products.
"The advisory support was critical in bridging the gap between our innovative technology and the financial markets, allowing us to reach out to investors and secure financing."
Niclas Davidsson
CEO, Meva Energy
Turning waste into worth
With funding support from the InvestEU Advisory Hub, EIB Advisory played a pivotal role in supporting Meva Energy’s scale-up of its biogas technology, helping European industries cut emissions, save costs and embrace fossil-free solutions. This support not only facilitates Meva Energy’s growth and market expansion across Europe but also advances EU climate and energy objectives by promoting innovative, sustainable, and circular economy-aligned energy solutions.
By turning waste into clean energy, Meva Energy demonstrates that waste isn't just something to discard - it's a resource that can be used to power Europe's green transition. When innovation meets investment, waste becomes worth.
