Circular economy

Salerno, the first Rienergy plant to treat buffalo waste is up and running

The second plant in Albanella also kicks off, with investments totalling 60 million. The poroduction of biomethane and biofertilisers is planned

by Vera Viola

21 May 2025

2' min read

Key points

Last green light for Albanella
Environmental budget

2' min read

The plant built by Rienergy E.S.Co. and constructed by Bionergyserre in Serre, in the province of Salerno, has started operation. The plant treats wastewater from buffalo farms to produce biomethane and quality compost. As of 15 May, around 12,000 quintals of slurry and six thousand tonnes of manure had been delivered to the plant by 50 livestock farms (mainly from Serre and the province of Salerno), with an average of more than 40 trips per day. The plant is already almost fully operational with a production of 500 cubic metres per hour of biomethane for the gas line, and an output of about 750 tonnes of bio manure per month.

Final go-ahead for Albanella

In order to put the other plant built in Albanella into operation, the Bionergy Albanella company is waiting for the imminent ministerial release of the identification number, after which it will be able to start delivering to the other livestock farms on the waiting list.

The two plants were built with an a final go-ahead for Albanella investment of around EUR 30 million. Each, when fully operational, will produce 8.5 million m³ of biomethane per year and as much as 52 thousand tonnes of biofuel.

Environmental Balance Sheet

The impact on the environment is significant: the treatment of wastewater avoids the risk of nitrate pollution, which with the rains first ends up in the canals, then in the Sele River and finally in the sea. The environmental balance also includes the beneficial effects produced by both biomethane, which reduces dependence on fossil fuels, and the use of compost, which enriches farmland with nutrients without resorting to chemical fertilisers.

"We have supported the construction of these plants, each of which is capable of disposing of the wastewater of around 10,000 buffaloes, because we are convinced,' explains Antonio Costantino, president of Confagricoltura Salerno, 'that this technology will provide the definitive solution for the disposal of zootechnical wastewater, which has created so many problems, including legal ones, for buffalo farmers, for whom we have also recently set up the OP Centrale del latte di bufala. Soon, the marketing of compost will also begin among the fourth range farms'.

"We have built the facilities,' confirms Renato De Santis, CEO of Rienergy Esco, 'to transform the waste from the buffalo supply chain into a resource, producing clean energy and compost for a sustainable future. Soon we will also start production at the Albanella plant, thus alleviating the environmental impact of another 20,000 buffaloes in the Sele Valley. In the meantime, we have lodged an appeal with the Tar against the decision of the Capaccio municipality's urban planning office that blocked the construction of the third plant, which is already included, among other things, in the national ranking of the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE). We are convinced that we are in the right, because the town planning office did not take into account the national regulations for this type of plant and because it had the obligation, before the decision was closed, to enter into the merits of our counter-deductions.