ForumBiogas12_100415 EN.indd - EnviTec Biogas

Issue 12
April 1st 2010
EnviTec Biogas newsletter >>ForumBiogas
EDITORIAL
Dear Reader,
more and more countries are
discovering the potential of biogas
– not only as an alternative
to fossil energy carriers,
but also for decentralized electricity
production.
Where entire regions are still
cut off from the energy supply,
biogas plants offer an environmentally
friendly solution.
In India for example,
a new age is dawning with
biogas plants from EnviTec:
For a long time, the farmers
have still burned agricultural
waste products such as rice
straw. In the future, they are
going to deliver their agricultural
waste for the production
of electricity. To do so, we are
currently constructing twelve
biogas plants in India, additional
ones are planned.
We are not only successfully
promoting our international
expansion in India. It is also
moving forward in other countries.
Particularly exemplary
are the basic conditions in Italy,
where we want to complete
about ten new plans this year.
Roel Slotman
CCO, EnviTec Biogas AG
> District heating in Lüsche
The village obtains affordable
heat from two EnviTec biogas
plants on site.
..................................... page 2
> License for processing
Collaboration with Greenlane
Biogas offers EnviTec considerable
advantages.
..................................... page 3
> Great potential in India
EnviTec Biogas secures access to
a promising market.
.................................... page 4
Biogas-Boom in Italy
EnviTec Biogas plans about ten new plants in 2010
The feed-in tariff for electricity
from biogas is high, at the
same time the market is still
small – this framework means
enormous growth potential for
EnviTec in Italy. “The boom has just
now begun,“ reckons Board Member
Roel Slotman, and he is glad
that EnviTec is there as European
industry leader from the very
EnviTec biogas plants in Italy 2009/2010*
(as state of April 2010)
Trento
Trentino-Alto
Adige
Friuli-Venezia
Giulia
Codroipo
Cormons
Valsesia
Lombardia
Aosta Valle Casalvolone
d'Aosta
Casaletto
500kW Milano
el
Ceredano
999 kW
Lodi
el
Mortara
Gropello
Volta
Mantovana
999 kWel Veneto 999 kWel Verona
Portogruaro 330 kWel Trieste
526 kW Venezia
el
526 kWel Torino
Piemonte
249 kW 999 kW
el
el
Piovera
999 kWel 999 kW Cremona
el
999 kWel Genova
526 kWel Bondeno
Ostellato
999 kW 999 kW el el
Bologna
999 kWel Liguria
Sardegna
Cagliari
Emilia-
Romagna
Toscana
* in operation, being build or in the
permission process
Firenze
Bolzano
999 kW el 999 kW el
Pistrino
999 kW el 999 kW el
Perugia
Umbria
Lazio
Roma
Marche
999 kW Latina
el
999 kW el
Ancona
L'Aquila
24 Biogas plants
20665 kW el
Palermo
Abruzzo
Molise
Foggia
Campobasso
999 kW 999 kW el el
Campania
Napoli
Sicilia
Potenza
start. EnviTec already has two biogas
plants on the network in Italy,
around ten biogas plants should
be completed this year. Currently,
nine plants are under construction
and there are plans running for 13
further projects.
The basic conditions for biogas
as a sustainable energy source
in Italy are exemplary: In July of
last year, the Berlusconi government
has increased the feed-in
tariff for electricity from biogas
to the Europe-wide highest value
by 28 cents per kilowatt hour for
15 years. Additionally, the country
grants operators of biogas plants
tax benefits and thereby opens
worthwhile investment possibilities
to farmers. Currently, there
are just about 200 biogas plants on
the network in the Mediterranean
country. By comparison: In Germany
there are more than 4,000.
Therefore, opportunities for
EnviTec are enormous.
The currently largest
single contract for
Puglia
Bari
the EnviTec
subsidiary
Basilicata
b a s e d
in Sommacamp
a g n a
Calabria
Catanzaro
near Verona comes
from Energy Renew.
EnviTec is constructing
two biogas
plants for the company
near Bologna specializing
in renewable energy, each
with a one megawatt electrical
installed load.

ForumBiogas
Lüsche residents save cash
Two EnviTec biogas plants heat 150 households
With electricity production in biogas
plants, heat arises that is environmentally
friendly and may
be used reasonably for heating.
Around 150 households in the
Lower Saxon town of Lüsche are
profiting from this and will be deriving
heat in the future from the
two biogas plants on site. Kunibert
Ruhe, Managing Director
of Lüscher Fernwärme GmbH
& Co. KG that built the entire
twelve kilometer long district
heating network, reckons “In this
way Lüsche is on the best path to
The dissolver shreds the input material
into smaller parts.
With a new mixing technology
operators of biogas plants can
clearly accelerate their gas production
and thereby achieve higher
gas yield: The socalled “Kreisdissolver”
is a more effective than
a conventional system for shredding
input materials, as EnviTec
has now discovered in a practical
test in two plants over a fivemonth
period.
2
becoming a bio-energy village.“
As early as Christmas 2009, several
residents could turn up their heating
with a good conscience for the
The district heating network
should be ready in May.
first time. On the district heating
network, that should be completed
at the end of May, companies
and public agencies in the village
are also connected. Besides the
district heating, the subscribers
of environmentally friendly heat
In direct comparison with a conventional
biogas plant that is
equipped with a rota-cut shredder,
the plant equipped with a dissolver
delivers additional earnings
of an average nine cubic meters
of gas per ton of fermented mass.
The gas earnings thereby are almost
ten percent over the expected
value that is based upon
substrate analysis and board data
from the german Association for
Technology and Structures in Agriculture
(KTBL).
Additionally, the electricity yield
is more than eight percent over
the projection – while hardly increasing
its own requirements
for electricity (3.89%) by comparison
with a conventional
plant (3.87%).
participate in the investment costs
in the amount of around 2.4 million
Euros. In the next three years,
they only pay an affordable three
cents for one kilowatt hour (kWh).
Thereafter only 50 percent of the
normal gas price is to be paid.
Altogether, both Lüsche biogas
plants installed by EnviTec Biogas
will supply the location with some
seven million kilowatt hours of
heat. Ruhe explains “This amount
corresponds to some 650,000 liters
of heating oil and spares the atmosphere
2,000 tons of CO 2 .“
Higher gas yield
New mixing technology: Dissolver
offers advantages in the production
The advantages of the dissolver is
based on optimal mixing technology.
In the interior of the system
The plant with dissolver
delivers considerably more gas.
that resembles a food processor,
a high-speed rotary cutter very
thoroughly shreds the input material.
Corn kernels completely
break up after around two minutes
mixing time and form a homogenous
mass, whereby the cell
content material is immediately
available for biogas production.
Thereby, the holding time of the
maize silage in the fermenter sinks
and total gas production runs faster.
A further advantage thorough
shredding through a circle dissolver
is the significantly reduced
Issue 12
The biogas plant operators are
also looking forward to being
able to work more economically
with the connection to the district
heating network. Gregor
Sommer, farmer, who invited interested
parties to Lüsche in collaboration
with the district rural
association on June 13th to the
“Day of the open Farm“ (see info
box) reported: “For a long time,
we have used a part of the existing
heat for our own stalls; however,
we had to drain the larger part.
INFO
»Day of the open Farm«
Sunday, June 13th beginning
at 10:30, farm of family Sommer
in Lüsche: Besides guided
tours from EnviTec employees
over the courtyard‘s
biogas plants, the visitor may
anticipate a comprehensive
supporting program that extends
from the Bauerncafé via
a raffle up to information and
sales stands.
viscosity of the substrate. Since
the input mass is less viscous as
with the conventional procedure,
the operator saves agitator power
in the fermenter. Additionally, the
risk from settling diminishes.
The results from extensive practical
tests in two biogas plants have
highly convinced EnviTec engineers
of the advantages of the
dissolver. The installation of new
technology ran nearly frictionlessly
as well, so that the operation of
the plants was not disturbed. For
both plants since then, the combined
heat and power unit load
Efficiency of the CHP
is at 98%
(CHP) amounts to 98 percent.
The necessary daily throughput
from an average 25 tons of maize
plus 17 tons liquid manure or 24
tons maize and 28 tons cattle slurry
could be achieved steadily up to
the present without problems.

April 1st 2010
Very promising alliance
EnviTec obtains a license for gas processing
In order to profit from the
opening of the natural gas network
for feeding upgraded biogas,
EnviTec has recently
closed a license agreement over
the manufacturing, construc-
Methane content increases
from 55 to 96 percent.
tion and sale of biogas treatment
plants with Greenlane Biogas.
EnviTec will market the
developed technology from the
subsidiary of the Swedish-New
Zealand Flotech group henceforth
in Germany and throughout
Europe under the new label
Whenever EnviTec Biogas
erects a new biogas plant,
Project Leader Stefan Laumann
always retains the overview for
the technical implementation
and the individual construction
steps. His job is never routine,
since the continued development
of plants steadily progresses. As
well, the license agreement with
Greenlane Biogas takes EnviTec
a great step forward. In the past
three months, Stefan Laumann
was engaged together with his
team to transfer the now available
knowledge about methane
treatment from Greenlane Biogas
to EnviTec.
The world‘s largest plant for biogas
upgrading is running in Güstrow.
“EnviTec Gas Processing Purified
by Greenlane“.
Mr. Laumann, you have been
responsible during the most-recent
collaboration with Greenlane
Biogas for the knowledge
transfer to EnviTec Biogas.
How have you and your team
gone forward?
» First, Greenlane Biogas
made documents such as construction
lists and flowcharts
available. In addition, the parent
group, the Flotech Group,
sent us an expert with whom we
could clarify many details. So,
we had to perform a lot of translation
work at first since Greenlane
Biogas had used American
norms in the layout documents,
and not the corresponding DIN
standards that we use.
Using the process of pressure
water scrubbing developed by
Greenlane Biogas, the methane
content of raw bio-gases increases
from around 55 to at least 96 percent.
Operators of biogas plants
can introduce such prepared biomethane
directly into the natural
gas network. “As technology leader
of the industry with the knowhow
from Greenlane Biogas, we
are drawing up the currently most
economic preparation method“,
states Kunibert Ruhe, Technology
Officer at EnviTec. “Through
collaboration, we can enlarge our
depth of experience in large plant
construction.“
"Thanks to the license from Greenlane biogas, EnviTec
can now offer an integrated solution"
Stefan Laumann, project manager
for biogas upgrading.
Have you also taken a closer
look at a preparation plant already
constructed by Greenlane
Biogas?
» Yes, we have also gone to
Güstrow, where Greenlane Biogas
had already delivered its
developed technology for the
NAWARO BioEnergie Park.
There, we have had employees
of the Flotech Group show each
individual component and explain
their function, enumerate
them and assign the technical
plans. Moreover, for illustration
of the documents, we have photographed
all parts.
To see and to understand the
plant in the full scale was certainly
helpful.
» Quite clearly, since the plasticity
in the schematic representation
of flowcharts is lacking.
By way of example, many lines
look nearly alike in thickness, although
the lines thereby depicted
have entirely distinguishable
diameters in reality.
What is your task now?
» After my team and I have
become equipped with the
Greenlane Biogas know-how,
we have to act as disseminators
and to dispense the knowledge
to the respective employees at
EnviTec. Thanks to the license,
EnviTec can now offer an integrated
solution from the biogas
production up to the feeding of
bio-methane into the natural
gas network.
ShORT NOTIcES
Animated film
With a new animated film,
EnviTec Biogas AG offers a
virtual tour of a biogas plant
to all interested parties as well
as potential customers. The
twelve-minute film visually
displays the individual steps
for the production of biogas
and explains the technology
of a biogas plant to the general
public. Viewers obtain
enlightening insights into the
interior of individual plant
components through the detailed
simulation.
MACHINE
OF THE YEAR 2010
Gratifying success: One of the
newest developments of EnviTec,
the performance controlled
feeding system EnviTec
Feedcontrol for uniform
biogas production, was award
winner from an international
jury of experts. The machine
obtained the distinction “Machine
of the Year 2010“ in the
category “renewable energy“
at the world‘s largest agricultural
engineering exhibition
Agritechnica in November.
Kunibert Ruhe, CTO, Christian
Ernst, Head of Sales Germany
and Carsten Steentjes, Technical
Sales Manager accepted the
award (from left).
3

ForumBiogas
Exhibitions
19. – 23. April 2010
Hannovermesse,
Hanover, DE
23. – 25. April 2010
XVII. Alföldi Állattenyésztési
és Mezőgazda Napok,
Hódmezővásárhely, HU
05. May 2010
Dairy Technology Event
Shropshire, UK
11. May 2010
The British Pig and Poultry
Fair 2010,
Warwickshire, UK
09. –10. June 2010
Cereals Event 2010,
Cambridgeshire, UK
24. – 27. June 2010
Royal Highland Show
Edinburgh, UK
30. June – 01. July 2010
AEBIOM European Bioenergy
Conference & RENEXPO
Bioenergy EUROPE,
Brussel, BE
25. – 28. August 2010
Farmer Expo,
Debrecen, HU
13. – 17. September 2010
IFAT ENTSORGA
Munich, DE
14. – 17. September 2010
SPACE 2010
Rennes, FR
4
India is one of the largest agricultural
producers in the world.
Giant amounts of waste accrue in
agriculture. At the same time, in
rural regions every second household
is without electricity – the
potential for biogas plants as decentralized
energy source is correspondingly
enormous. This
year, EnviTec wants to build biogas
plants on four sites in India
with a total twelve megawatt capacity.
Indeed, this is just the beginning.
“We‘re making good progress
forward,“ reports Roel Slotman,
Board Member at EnviTec Biogas
AG, regarding the expansion on
the subcontinent. Four years ago,
the Indian company started upon
the initiative of the Society for
Technical Cooperation (GTZ)
as a public private partnership
(PPP). The joint venture EnviTec
Biogas Pvt. Ltd., founded by EnviTec
Biogas and the Indian Planning
and Operational Company
MPPL Renewable Energy Pvt.
Ltd. then obtained the contract
from the state energy provider of
India to erect biogas plants with
an electrical installed load of a total
30 megawatts in the agrarian
state of Punjab.
“After the construction of the first
twelve megawatts this year, there
will follow an additional 18 meg-
awatts in Punjab,“ explained Slotman.
But it does not stop there:
“We are standing just before conclusion
of negotiation with the
delivery and construction of additional
plants.“ Currently, activities
of EnviTec Biogas India Pvt.
Ltd the south Indian Bangalore
based EnviTec Biogas India Pvt.
Ltd. concentrate upon the federal
states Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu.
Conditions for electricity production
from biogas are ideal in
India: According to calculations
of GTZ experts, the present
waste production of Indian ag-
riculture for operation of biogas
plants suffices with an electrical
capacity of around 30,000 megawatts.
Upon commissioning of
a biogas plant, the surrounding
farmers‘ rice straw does not have
to burn climate-endangering on
their fields, but the farmers can
bring it for fermentation into the
plant and obtain valuable fertilizers
in return for the digestates.
Indeed, above all the targeted use
of biomass decisively promotes
the India‘s Central Government
Issue 12
April 1st 2010
Rice straw as energy source
EnviTec is building twelve biogas plants in India in 2010
The Indian company
began three years ago.
Managing director Roel Slotman and Chairman Kolluru Krishan of EnviTec Biogas
India are glad about the fast and steady expansion on the subcontinent.
Once a year farmers burn the fields where rice is grown which releases millions
of tonnes of methan. Rice straw, however, can be used perfectly as input
material.
Wastes are sufficient for a
capacity of 30,000 MW.
in their ambitious plan, to provide
access to electricity by 2020
for nearly all the 50,000 villages
that have not yet been supplied
with electricity. On the path to
this goal, decentralized biogas
plants from EnviTec are an important
building block.
Imprint
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Publisher:
EnviTec Biogas AG
Chief Editor
(under press law):
Katrin Selzer, EnviTec AG
Concept and design:
Kreutzmann Unternehmenskommunikation,
Hamburg
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