Leading bioenergy companies co-invest to accelerate Australia’s bioenergy transformation, creating  carbon abatement and circular economy outcomes from agricultural feedstocks 

LMS Energy (LMS) and Helmont Energy (Helmont) have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at  accelerating Australia’s bioenergy transformation. As Australia’s leading bioenergy company, LMS’ 50% investment in Helmont, an emerging bioenergy business, will accelerate Helmont’s growth and  enable continued focus on developing projects that use agricultural feedstocks to generate  renewable energy and abate carbon emissions across the agricultural sector. The investment  provides Helmont available capital to develop its portfolio of development projects, including energy-from-waste projects using anaerobic digestion and biomethane grid injection technology. 

With the recent release of the Federal Government’s Bioenergy Roadmap identifying vast  opportunities to create bioenergy from agricultural resources, and a shared commitment to  sustainable energy production from bioenergy resources, this partnership leverages the collective  resources and extensive expertise of two leading companies to develop projects across the  expanding bioenergy industry. 

Since its establishment in 2020, Helmont has been a key influencer in shaping this industry, including  new policy that will support bioenergy that can decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors of the Australian  economy. By converting millions of tonnes of organic agricultural waste generated each year into  renewable energy, Helmont is able to reduce carbon emissions from the agricultural sector while  creating value for farmers and agri-food businesses, which supports long term regional  development. 

“In the agricultural sector alone, more than 1000PJ p.a. of bioenergy resources are available. This  represents more than 4 times the amount of bioenergy currently produced in Australia and the  opportunities to turn this into renewable energy and contribute to the circular economy are only  just emerging,” said Helmont’s Managing Director, Mark Jonker. 

“This new partnership with LMS provides us with the opportunity to leverage their position as a  leading bioenergy provider and Australia’s largest carbon abatement company to grow our business  in build, own and operate projects in the agriculture sector and explore carbon abatement projects  in the heavy transport, gas and mining sectors.” 

LMS’ General Manager, Matthew Falzon, said that “the investment in Helmont recognised the  emerging opportunities presented by agricultural feedstocks, enabling LMS to expand its leadership  in the bioenergy market and promote our commitment to a circular economy.”

“LMS has four decades of experience in bioenergy, owning and operating 50+ biogas facilities across  Australia. Our decision to invest in Helmont evolved from a shared commitment to bioenergy  innovation and carbon abatement, with both companies seeking to utilise organic resources to  reduce emissions and power the circular economy. The LMS Team is thrilled with this investment,  which will provide improved value to new and existing customers for both companies through our  complementary capabilities” he said. 

The partnership enables the companies to deliver on their long-term commitment to decarbonising  the Australian economy and making a material contribution to Australia’s journey to net zero by  2050. 

For more information please contact: 

Helmont Energy 

Mark Jonker
mark@helmontenergy.com 

LMS Energy 

Matthew Falzon 
matthew.falzon@lms.com.au