The Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Solutions (ISEES) has launched an international digital matchmaking platform to connect practitioners and companies in biogas and bioenergy.

This would enable biogas practitioners in Ghana and Africa to have easy access to their European partners and actors to improve their business operations internationally.
The platform www.biogasplatform.EU which was launched has been made possible under the auspices of the Digital Global Biogas Cooperation (Dibicoo) Project, with funding from the European Union Horizon2020.

Mr Lovans Owusu-Takyi, the Director of ISEES in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) indicated that the biogas practitioners and project developers found it difficult to identify quality equipment for the installation of their system, access to opportunities, or partners companies to assist in project development, market development and partnerships.

He said this situation has made it difficult for biogas companies to work in-country and internationally.

Mr Owusu-Takyi stated that the biogasplatform.EU would serve as an easy online platform that would enable biogas and bioenergy companies, practitioners, and project developers to sign up, and connect to other biogas and biomass gasification companies from across the globe.

“It would help them to identify opportunities, tenders, events and competitions globally, and also build their capacity through a knowledge base with factsheets that will assist them in the development of their biogas expertise,” he said.

The Director urged bioenergy and biogas companies, practitioners, students, and researchers, to sign up on the platform and facilitate interaction, networking and knowledge sharing to improve their business operations.

Dr Mutala Mohammed, the Project Manager for the Digital Global Biogas Cooperation Project indicated that the platform was developed in partnership with 13 international consortium partners led by Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies.

The rest are GIZ GmbH, with contributions from the ISEES Ghana, WIP, German Biogas Association from Germany, Austrian Energy Agency, European Biogas Association in Belgium, INTA from Argentina, GreenCape South Africa, Resilience Development Initiative in Indonesia, ICEADDIS in Ethiopia, among others.

The consortium partners are from nine different countries across the globe who contributed to developing the biogas platform, Dr Mohammed stated.

Mr Prince Kwame Asante, the Director of Greentech Innovations Limited, said the platform had been helpful to business.

“Since I signed up recently, I have received partnership opportunities from Biotech companies in India who have reached out to me to work together on marketing biogas systems, training, and installation of institutional biogas projects in Ghana,” he stated.

“I, therefore, thanked the ISEES and the Digital Global Biogas Project consortium partners and the EU for establishing such an important platform that will help businesses to thrive internationally,” he said.