Autumn 2023 EN

The project in Bitburg includes
the gas storage facility
and the necessary equipment
for injection. The freestanding
double-membrane gas storage
has a capacity of 5,300
cubic meters.
Biogas from Seven Regional Plants –
Operating Results of the Upgrading Unit
in Bitburg
The upgrading unit of Biogaspartner Bitburg GmbH in the Eifel region has been receiving
raw biogas from seven biogas plants in the area since autumn 2020 and converting it into
feed-in-ready biomethane. A 42-kilometer-long pipeline has been installed for transportation
to the upgrading. The responsible parties were able to collect a lot of operation
experience in the first two and a half years since the start of production.
Author: Dipl. Geographer Martin Frey
The idea of the project was to collect biogas
from different plants in a collective system,
upgrade it, and thereby establish a
swarm power plant based on biomethane,”
says Wolfgang François, Managing Director
of the operating company Biogaspartner Bitburg
GmbH. Many biogas plants in the Bitburg-Prüm district
of the Eifel region were or are approaching the
end of their initial EEG (Renewable Energy Sources
Act) subsidy. In addition, their combined heat and
power plants (CHP) often have relatively low efficiency,
as only 5 percent of the heat is utilized.
The “Regional Interconnected Westeifel System” of
the “Kommunale Netze Eifel” (KNE), which is also
being developed in the region and is nearly completed,
provided an additional impetus to find a solution
for these biogas plants. This extensive infrastructure
project runs through the Eifel region from north to
south and includes not only the supply of drinking
water, but also several other utilities, such as electricity
and fiber optic cables.
“The raw biogas pipeline for the upgrading project has
also been installed in large sections of that area,” says
the board member of Kommunale Netze AöR (KNE)
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTIN FREY
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