The clean energy network of Southern Italy – La Repubblica
RETINA: the infrastructure platform created to reduce emissions and transform livestock waste into biomethane and organic fertilisers
There is an Italy that looks to the future starting from its land, its stables and its countryside. This is the story told by the Retina project, an infrastructure platform created with the aim of transforming the environmental challenges of intensive farming into sustainable energy resources and fertilisers. Leading this challenge is Franco Torra, CEO and general manager of Retina Holding, who describes the company's mission as follows:
«We want to identify those areas where excessive greenhouse gas emissions and nitrates in the groundwater, caused by intensive farming, have a significant environmental impact. That is where our action begins, with anaerobic digestion plants capable of producing biogas and biomethane, transforming a problem into an opportunity».
THE PROJECT
The Retina project, promoted by Actarus Renewables and supported by the European fund Retina SCA, has been operational since 2022. The idea is simple but revolutionary: to intervene in areas of central and southern Italy where livestock farming and agriculture generate significant economic value but also exert considerable pressure on the environment. This is where greenfield biomethane plants are located, powered by more than 60% livestock biomass and the remainder by agricultural by-products not derived from dedicated crops.
MEZZOGIORNO
In Campania, for example, the buffalo mozzarella supply chain coexists with areas vulnerable to nitrates: Retina operates precisely there, where the environmental impact is most evident. Through anaerobic digestion, livestock waste is transformed into biogas and then into biomethane, a renewable source capable of powering the national grid and gradually replacing part of the fossil gas. The process also produces biogenic CO₂, intended for the food and pharmaceutical industries, and biocompatible organic fertilisers, which can replace traditional chemical fertilisers in line with new European directives.
SOLID FOUNDATIONS
From a financial perspective, Retina represents a model of public-private partnership and sustainable industrial finance. Following the partnership with the French group EREN Industries, the project has raised approximately €100 million in equity capital, in addition to €250 million in project financing guaranteed by SACE through the Archimede Guarantee. The initiative is supported by a pool of leading banks: BNP Paribas, BPER, ING, Intesa Sanpaolo, Société Générale and UniCredit. The eleven plants in the first phase – four in Lazio and seven in Campania – are already under construction and will be operational by the first half of 2026.
Over €350 million invested with contributions from banks and national and European partners
FROM ANIMAL HUSBANDRY TO ENERGY
Retina plants are the beating heart of a silent revolution. Anaerobic digestion technology transforms livestock waste and agricultural by-products, which would otherwise release methane, CO₂ and harmful nitrates into the environment, into clean energy. The process takes place in the absence of oxygen: bacteria break down the organic matter, producing methane-rich biogas. The latter is then refined to obtain biomethane, which is used to power homes, industries and compressed natural gas vehicles.
The biogas upgrading process also produces biogenic CO₂, which is completely renewable and used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The solid residue, on the other hand, is further treated through aerobic digestion, generating organic fertilisers that return useful substances to the soil while reducing nitrate pollution.
REPLICABLE DEVELOPMENT
‘What we produce is not just biomethane,’ emphasises Franco Torra, ‘but a replicable development model that combines clean energy, soil protection and the enhancement of local supply chains.’
Retina aims to involve farmers, agricultural businesses and local communities in a network capable of generating shared value. In addition to reducing environmental impact, the plants create stable employment in rural areas and encourage the emergence of new professions related to maintenance and energy management.
SECOND PHASE
On an industrial level, the second phase of the Retina plan – launched in 2025 thanks to a new capital increase of €250 million – involves the construction of another eleven plants in Lazio, Campania, Molise and Puglia. All will be connected to the national gas network and certified by the GSE, which will verify the traceability of biomass and the sustainability of processes, a necessary condition for accessing PNRR incentives.
From the countryside of Campania to Lazio: the industrial plan combines local development, sustainability and technology
BEYOND ITALY
Looking beyond Italy's borders, Retina Holding has already included internationalisation projects in its business plan, with a view to replicating the model in other European countries with strong livestock farming sectors.
‘Our ambition,’ says Torra, ‘is to create a European platform of knowledge and integrated facilities capable of supporting the decarbonisation of the agri-food supply chain and heavy transport, including shipping, thanks to biomethanol.’
An ambitious plan, backed by a solid financial structure and international industrial alliances, combining innovation, circular economy and environmental responsibility.
Retina is not just an energy project: it is a laboratory for applied ecological transition, capable of providing concrete answers to two global challenges – sustainable biomass management and emissions reduction – starting from local areas.
