Sumitomo forms JV with Denmark's Skovgaard Energy for biogas and e-SAF business
Energy

Sumitomo forms JV with Denmark's Skovgaard Energy for biogas and e-SAF business

Developing e-SAF sustainable aviation fuel and expanding biogas production across Denmark

  • By ICN Bureau | June 16, 2025

Sumitomo Corporation has established a joint venture North Sky A/S with Skovgaard Energy, a company engaged in the development of renewable energy to produce biogas and Power to X business such as e-SAF. The new company aims to produce around 40 million Nm³ of biogas – equivalent to the annual gas consumption of about 20,000 Danish households.

It will also expand SE's existing biogas production sites across Denmark. Further, leveraging knowledge gained from the biogas business, the joint venture will develop other bioenergy sources, including e-SAF, a sustainable aviation fuel. This marks Sumitomo Corporation's first participation in a biogas production business and will accelerate the growth of its energy solutions division, one of the key growth areas in its current Medium-Term Management Plan.

As an agricultural powerhouse, Denmark aims to make full use of organic waste generated through farming while achieving carbon neutrality. The country has set a target to power its national gas grid entirely with biogas by 2030. Biogas – produced from organic waste such as food residue and livestock manure – is attracting increasing attention as a renewable energy source. Because it does not emit CO2 during combustion but instead returns only the CO2 originally absorbed by its raw materials, it contributes to achieving carbon neutrality. In addition, by using domestically sourced raw materials, biogas enhances energy self-sufficiency and drives the development of new production facilities across the country.

By combining Sumitomo Corporation's business network in Europe with SE's strengths, the new company aims to expand the biogas business and develop e-SAF production. As a synthetic fuel produced from biomass-derived carbon dioxide and green hydrogen, e-SAF is expected to see rising demand as it moves towards commercialization. Denmark generates around 90% of its domestic electricity from renewable sources, giving it an advantage in procuring green hydrogen. By expanding biogas operations across the country, the new company will be able to supply biomass-derived CO2 – an ingredient in e-SAF – stably and at low cost from its own plants.

The Sumitomo Corporation Group has positioned bioenergy as a key method for achieving carbon neutrality in its business operations by 2050 and realizing a sustainable energy cycle. In addition to promoting the MORISORA Project in Japan under an MoU signed in February 2025 to develop domestically produced SAF, the Group also signed an MoU with reNIKOLA in Malaysia in May 2025 to explore bioenergy development, including projects for producing and selling biomethane in Malaysia and Indonesia.

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