Bio360 Africa 2027 – SABIA confirms return after successful Johannesburg debut
By Larry Claasen
FOLLOWING the success of the inaugural Bio360 Africa exhibition and conference held in June, the Southern African Biogas Industry Association (SABIA) said it will host the event again next year.
Organised by Bioenergy Events and Services (BEES) in collaboration with SABIA, Bio360 ran from Wednesday, 17 June to Thursday, 18 June 2026, and was followed by specialised site tours on Friday, 19 June 2026.
The conference featured two parallel streams, including keynote addresses, technical presentations and expert panel discussions. The programme was designed to facilitate practical collaboration between stakeholders and to accelerate the deployment of viable bioenergy solutions across African markets.
Solutions for municipalities
SABIA secretary Gordon Ayres said Bio360 was a powerful catalyst for the local biogas industry as a whole and was especially relevant to local municipalities, which are struggling to manage their landfills with the technological options available to them.
Landfill management has long been a worsening problem for the country’s municipalities. The City of Cape Town, for instance, said in its 2023 Infrastructure Report that its Coastal Park landfill in Muizenberg was running out of capacity and that once it is full, all waste will have to be transported to its other landfill, Vissershok near Table View.
Ayres said many municipalities had their eyes opened to proven solutions to their waste and energy challenges. They came across companies that were deriving biogas from landfills.
The conference served as a vital educational tool for risk-averse municipalities, allowing them to see that the technology is well-established and effective, rather than experimental.
“In Germany, this technology has been in place since the late 1980s. Over 9,000 biogas plants in Germany operate at scale, at municipality scale.”
Whereas before, municipal leaders thought there were no options available to them, they came away from Bio360 with an understanding that there was “light at the end of the tunnel.”
A unifying event
For players in the local biogas sector, Bio360 was a way to get decision-makers in government, finance, operations, and waste management into the same room.
“It was really amazingly positive,” said Ayres. “We’ve really seen a shot in the arm, a place where people have become much more aware that this is a real thing. This is a genuine industry.”
As successful as Bio360 Africa was, Ayres said that looking ahead at the next iteration, he saw ways it could be made even bigger and better.
“From the management team’s perspective, we had ideas. We really thought, for example, next time we must really get more financial guys here.”
Possible partnerships
But it is not just the local bioenergy sector that gained from Bio360. Ayres said the international companies coming to South Africa for the first time also saw opportunities in the country. They were impressed by the infrastructural quality and the manufacturing that’s been done here. “I think that we will see some interesting partnerships developed here.”
More than 60 exhibitors participated in the two-day event in a 2,500 m² exhibition space, alongside over 1,000 delegates representing agriculture, energy, finance, research and government sectors.
Key focus areas included biogas, biomethane, biohydrogen, biofuels, biochar and solid biomass applications across off-grid and grid-connected systems. The event also explored broader themes within the circular bioeconomy, carbon management, sustainable transport, and the integration of biomass within agricultural systems.
Youth participation and skills development were also prioritised through targeted engagement initiatives aimed at connecting emerging professionals with established industry leaders.
These initiatives were designed to support knowledge transfer and build capacity within the next generation of bioenergy specialists.
