Why an Italian waste-to-energy company chose Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An Italian company converting waste into energy is expanding to Grand Rapids.
Two European competitors, both around 20 years old, combined forces to enter the U.S. market as EBC Energy last year. The company started its U.S. operations in May 2023, opening its headquarters in New York.
At a conference for international companies in Washington D.C., EBC Energy COO Matteo Biasin met with Brent Case, the vice president of business attraction for West Michigan economic development organization The Right Place, Inc.
“I made an appointment to meet with Matteo, and we sat down for a 20-minute ‘speed date,'” Case explained. “After that, we coordinated a visit for him to come see me in Grand Rapids and show him around and basically give the pitch of why he should locate his company here in Grand Rapids.”
West Michigan farms putting waste to work as fuel
EBC Energy will be opening a business development office inside Michigan State University’s Grand Rapids Innovation Park on Michigan St. NW near Monroe Avenue.
Operating a business in Grand Rapids costs about half of what it costs in New York, Case said, and West Michigan also has several potential customers and partners. Biasin met with potential customers while in Grand Rapids, he told News 8, and believes there is a lot of opportunity in the area.
While Case wouldn’t say what companies the team met with, he said the area has “some big food producers generating lots of food waste in their processes.”
The Grand Rapids expansion comes as waste-to-energy companies face oversaturation in Europe, Biasin said. Turning waste like manure, biproducts from beverage companies and domestic waste into energy has been prevalent in Europe for decades.
“Since the cost of the energy in Europe has always been higher than in U.S., we were … obliged to find an alternative way to produce energy than the normal way,” he explained. “It’s something that is already existing in USA, but the market in USA is very, very wide. … The market in Europe is quite saturated.”
EBC Energy offers complete solutions for customers, from putting together the business plan to operating facilities that covert waste into energy. Opening a facility is a long process, but Biasin said his team is “very ambitious,” hoping to open a facility in West Michigan within a couple of years before expanding to other parts of the Midwest.
“I think there’s a great opportunity for West Michigan companies to leverage EBC Energy’s expertise so that they can be more green, sustainable, meet their energy efficiency goal,” Case said. “They can convert their waste into a revenue stream instead of paying to dispose of it.”
Those interested in learning more about the company can stop by an event it is hosting with the West Michigan Food Processing Association on April 18.
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