Our history

During the 1970s, Denmark was hit by two international oil crises. It was for this reason, among others, that the Danish Parliament adopted an act that would introduce natural gas into Denmark in 1979. In the wake of that decision, Naturgas Fyn emerged as one of the five regional gas companies in Denmark, and in 1981 we began to build the gas network in Funen. 

In 2015, we established our first biogas plant

Nature Energy established its first biogas plant in Holsted back in 2015, and we are now among the world's largest producers of biogas with 13 plants in Denmark. We also own and operate one plant in the Netherlands and one in France. More plants will follow.

Things have gained momentum at Nature Energy since our first biogas plant in Holsted. We have gone from having 30 employees working with biogas in 2015 to our current figure of over 500, all of who are dedicated to the work of producing climate-friendly biogas.

The Funen municipalities decided to sell Nature Energy to a group of private investors at the end of 2017. Among these were the Danish pension fund Sampension. 

We are among the largest in the world today

In other words, Nature Energy has undergone a transformation, and we are now one of the world's largest producers of biogas for the gas network. In 2019, we could even open one of the world's largest biogas plants to date. The plant, which is located in Korskro near Esbjerg in Denmark, can treat over 700,000 tonnes of bio-waste - annually!

Many of our other biogas plants - e.g. in Holsted and Videbæk - are the same size as the plant in Korskro, which means that we are now able to produce biogas on a large commercial scale. This is of great benefit to the green transition, where an increasing proportion of the Danish gas network contains biogas. 

We believe that biogas can help solve the key climate challenges faced by us as a society. Biogas already plays a crucial role in the green transition, where industry, agriculture and heavy traffic can achieve significant CO₂ reductions by using biogas.

We are currently feeling a considerable demand for biogas in Denmark, as well as internationally. It was therefore also an important milestone when, in July 2020, we were able to announce the world's largest biogas agreement to date - a co-operation agreement with Shell, to whom we now sell biogas.

In 2023 Nature Energy was sold to Shell as a wholly owned subsidiary.

With the backing of more than 550 employees, Nature Energy continues its efforts to increase biogas production for the benefit of the green transition.

Highlights in Nature Energy’s history

1979 - Naturgas Fyn is established

1981 - We begin to develop the gas network in Funen

2014 - We change name from Naturgas Fyn to Nature Energy

2015 - Our first biogas plant in Holsted supplies biogas to the Danish gas network

2018 - Nature Energy changes from being owned by the municipalities in Funen County to being sold to private investors

2018 - Nature Energy divests its distribution and gas sales business to focus exclusively on the production of climate-friendly biogas

2018 - Nature Energy acquires the biogas company Xergi

2018 - We build our own state-of-the-art laboratory in Odense, where research on biogas is pursued 

2019 - Korskro, one of the world's largest biogas plants, is inaugurated

2019 - We acquire nine gas filling stations from HMN Naturgas and become market leader in Denmark

2020 - Nature Energy and Shell conclude the world's largest biogas agreement to date

2021 - Nature Energy invests in Denmark's first LBG plant

2022 - We establish our first offices in the USA and Canada

2022 - We have our first ground break for a biogas plant in France

2022 - Nature Energy and Andel invest DKK 100 million in Power-to-X

2022 - Nature Energy and Énergir invest billions in building biogas plants in Quebec, Canada

2023 - Nature Energy is sold to Shell as a wholly owned subsidiary

2023 - We inaugurate the world's first commercial-scale Power-to-Gas plant in Glansager