Biogas provides a bridging solution for datacentre operators, but the market is still small
Pure Data Centres has announced what it claims is Europe’s first large-scale cross-border biomethane deal for a datacentre, using imported renewable energy to “fully decarbonise” operations at its Dublin facility.
Pure DC’s Dublin campus is powered by a “microgrid” – generation and storage infrastructure that can be run independently of the main grid. It was built to comply with Ireland’s recently introduced legislation which permits self-power. Those rules also stipulate that at least 80% of annual electricity demand must be matched by new renewable generation.
Pure DC says it transferred 9GWh of certified biomethane from Germany into Ireland’s gas grid over a seven-day period, offsetting the natural gas used to power the Dublin facility.
The move is intended to demonstrate that gas-powered datacentres can be decarbonised “at operational scale”, the London-based company says, and forms part of its strategy to achieve net-zero operations by 2040.
Speed to power
Unlike conventional renewable energy procurement, the biomethane is not delivered directly to the site. Instead, it is “mass balanced” through European gas networks, with renewable gas certificates tracked via Ireland’s Renewable Gas Registry.
Maria Jose Rivas Duarte, director of sustainability at Pure DC, told Computing the initiative is designed to demonstrate a new route for the datacentre sector, which until recently was blocked from building new infrastructure in the Dublin area because of power constraints.
Biomethane is seen by Pure DC as a bridging measure rather an end goal, Rivas Duarte explained.
“Right now microgrids and renewable gas are part of transitional measures away from traditional grid connections and renewable PPAs [power purchase agreements] viable a national grid, which are pretty much always preferred.
“However it’s clear throughout Europe that national grids cannot keep up with demands, so microgrids and decarbonising form a valuable approach to bridge speed-to-power with speed-to-market.
“The success of the Dublin project is proof that data centres can now be decarbonised at scale with the use of biomethane.”
Biomethane, which is derived largely from agricultural and food waste, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by between 42% and 70% compared with natural gas, according to researchers at Imperial College London.
Asked about cost comparisons with natural gas, Rivas Duarte declined to disclose figures, instead describing biomethane as a “commercially viable alternative”. German biomethane is currently cheaper than that produced by the nascent Irish market, she added.
“Pure’s belief is that the work they do alongside [the Irish government and regulators] to investigate the potential to invigorate that market with proven approaches can help the Irish Large Energy Users policy and Climate Action Plan.”
Biomethane market is small but growing
The viability of biomethane as a decarbonisation strategy depends heavily on the scale and maturity of supply.
Across Europe, installed production capacity reached 7 billion cubic meters (bcm) (roughly 72 TWh) annually by the end of Q1 2025, up 9% from 2024.
Germany is Europe’s second-largest producer of biomethane, after France. Ireland is targeting 5.7TWh of domestic biomethane production annually by 2030, while the UK is on track to produce around 50TWh by the same date.
But while biomethane production is growing, it represents a relatively small share of total gas consumption in Europe (around 3,500 TWh). Scaling supply to meet the mounting demands of datacentres – alongside industrial and residential demand – will require sustained investment in production, transport and certification infrastructure.
The demand is certainly there. With waiting times for grid connections extending to five or ten years – or even more – biomethane and microgrids offer both sustainability credentials and rapid implementation.
There may be cost advantages for datacentre operators too.
According to analysis by Stonehaven, gas-based on-site generation can offer faster connections and, in some cases, lower upfront costs compared with grid electricity. Biomethane can then be introduced into the mix to reduce overall emissions without requiring a wholesale rebuild of the gas infrastructure.
Rivas Duarte said Pure DC’s strategy is to introduce renewables according to local availability.
“The exact mix depends site by site, but for example we recently announced the decarbonisation of our Abu Dhabi site via in-region solar, whereas in Amsterdam, the site under development has a construction supply of wind power agreement for Dutch Wind.”
