Services

Biomass advisory · Bioenergy investment · Sustainability certification · Interim management

Hinterland's work sits at the points in a biomass or bioenergy project lifecycle where generalist advice is insufficient and operational experience is what matters. The mandates below represent the core of the practice — but the work is scoped to fit each client's specific decision, geography, and stage.

1 — Feedstock Origination and Supply Chain Assessment

Is the resource real, accessible, and commercially relevant before serious capital is committed?

Most biomass projects are built on theoretical residue estimates, promising maps, and early supplier conversations. Hinterland's origination work tests whether a resource is real: who controls the fibre, what volume is realistic, what quality and moisture risk sits inside it, and whether it can be aggregated and moved.

This is ground-level work — field visits, supplier engagement, catchment analysis, logistics testing. Not desktop research.

What this covers

Typical clients

Feedstock mapping and supplier identification

Field validation and mill engagement

Residue characterisation — moisture, bark, ash, contamination

Competing-use assessment and seasonality risk

Realistic available-volume estimates

Biomass origination across wood, agri-residues, and encroacher species

Supply chain design from forest/farm/yard to port

CIF pricing modelling against European market benchmarks

Application of the Availability–Sustainability–Applicability– Affordability–Bankability (Sweet Spot) funnel methodology

Utilities, developers, investors, governments, DFI-financed projects seeking supply chain origination, feedstock studies, or pre-investment assessment

2 — Investment Advisory, Due Diligence and JV Structuring

Can the investment survive board, lender, and DFI scrutiny?

Hinterland's investment advisory work draws on 13 years of managing upstream biomass JV investments at ENGIE — including the full corporate approval cycle across credit, legal, fiscal, technical, HSE, and governance. The perspective is that of someone who has sat on both sides of the transaction.

What this covers

Track record

Technical and commercial due diligence on operational and development-stage pellet plants and bioenergy projects

Investment file structuring and corporate approval support

JV formation and shareholder agreement advisory

Funding support — equity, debt, DFI, convertible instruments

Risk assessment and mitigation strategy

Feasibility studies and bankable business plans

IPP development — PPAs, FSAs, EPC, O&M, EIA

Board representation and shareholder management

C$45M wood pellet facility divestment, British Columbia, Canada (C$15M equity share) — ENGIE / Pacific Bio-Energy

A$7M convertible bond investment in a wood pellet facility, Australia— ENGIE / Plantation Energy Australia

€5M wood chips facility investment, Cameroon — ENGIE / BIOCAM

A$3M credit facility for a wood pellet facility, Australia

€27M wind power station development and investment, Netherlands

3 — Sustainability, Certification and Compliance

Can the supply chain carry SBP, FSC, RED III, and EUDR scrutiny?

Hinterland's sustainability work is grounded in standard-setting experience rather than compliance checklist application. As co-founder and vice-chairman of the Sustainable Biomass Partnership, Maarten understands what certification bodies require — and why specific provisions were written the way they were.

What this covers

SBP, FSC, GGL, RED III compliance advisory and certification pathway structuring

EUDR supply chain mapping, risk assessment, and due diligence documentation

GHG balance and LCA input preparation

Chain-of-custody logic and traceability system design

Carbon credits, CDRs, NbS, and biochar accreditation

Biomass sustainability reporting and stakeholder governance

Sustainability audit and social compliance assessment

Offtake contract sustainability provisions and pass-through clauses

3 — Sustainability, Certification and Compliance

From resource concept to bankable power purchase agreement.

Hinterland has supported bioenergy IPP development across Africa — advising governments, utilities, and developers on the full project development cycle from feasibility and technology selection through to PPA structuring, competitive tender procedures, and financial close preparation.

What this covers

Track record

Bioenergy feasibility and technology assessment

Biomass fuel strategy and supply design for power plants

IPP tender procedure support for governments and authorities

PPA, FSA, and concession agreement advisory

Coal-to-biomass conversion structuring for operational power plants

DFI and development finance engagement support

Community and stakeholder engagement design

Clean cooking and biomass fuel strategy for developing markets

Government of Mauritius / ALSF / AfDB — coal-to-biomass conversion for operational IPPs (2022–2026, active)

AGIA / Africa50 Ivory Coast — Biomass power plant development project — Technical DD (2026)

Government of Eswatini / ALSF — biomass IPP tender procedure and PPA advisory (2024)

NamPower Namibia — 40MW Otjikoto Biomass Power Station fuel strategy (2020–2021; plant now under construction)

NL Works / BioMassters Rwanda — Wood pellet production factory feedstock study and site selection survey and production factory design and planning assignment for an existing wood pellet production and cookstove enterprise in Rwanda on its biomass pellet production expansion plans (2023-2024)

Climate Fund Managers / Get.Invest / Xylo Group — Biomass supply chain, risk assessment and supply contracting for biomass Combined Heat and Power (CHP) supply to local industry project development (brewery) (2022-2023)

5 — Interim Executive Mandates

Experienced executive capacity for defined commercial, sustainability, and general management mandates.

Maarten Gnoth is available for interim executive assignments where a project or organisation needs senior commercial, sustainability, or general management leadership for a defined period. Interim assignments are structured around defined accountability: leading teams, managing counterparties, making decisions, and delivering results for the duration of the mandate.

Available as

Mandate parameters

Interim Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)

Interim Commercial Director / Head of Business Development

Interim Director Sustainability / ESG

Interim Managing Director / Country Director

Senior Advisory Board or Non-Executive Director

Duration: 3–6 months typical, open to discussion

Geography: Africa and Southeast Asia preferred — willing to relocate for the duration

Netherlands and Europe: also considered, hybrid or on-site

Available: immediately

Engagement: day-rate basis via Hinterland Management BV

6 — Biochar and Carbon Advisory

Feedstock origination, technology assessment, and carbon credit structuring for biochar and CDR projects in Africa and emerging markets.

Hinterland's biochar and carbon advisory work draws on direct project experience: biochar BD structuring and technology assessment in West Africa, carbon abatement potential assessment for a global food and fibre conglomerate (via Bain & Company), and origination of agri-residue feedstocks across West Africa that are directly applicable to biochar production.

This is an area of growing demand and Hinterland brings both the technical biomass origination capability and the carbon market understanding to support developers and investors working in this space.

What this covers

Biochar project BD structuring and feasibility

Technology provider assessment and comparison

Agricultural residue feedstock origination for biochar production

Carbon credit generation potential assessment

Accreditation process advisory (Puro.earth, Verra, Gold Standard)

Biochar supply chain design in African agricultural contexts

Carbon insetting, offsetting, and CDR strategy for corporates

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