FEATURE: BIOENERGY IN INDUSTRY Herzberg double bottom-line benefits The biogas plant (left) is located next door to the Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer animal feed facility in Herzberg, Germany. Cremer provided the site and leased it to EnviTec who financed and built the biogas plant. The plant supplies heat in the form of hot water and saturated water vapour to Cremer. Producing around 2.8 million tonnes of product per annum, Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer GmbH & Co. KG is one of Germany’s oldest and leading animal feed and pet food producers. Located on the border between Saxony Anhalt and Saxony, some 90 kilometres south of Berlin, Herzberg is one of 14 production sites operated by the company. Previously the entire heat needs of the Herzberg plant were met using heating oil. Since the end of 2009 the neighbouring biogas plant has supplied a significant share of the heat requirements. Bottom-line benefits – We originally intended to build our own biogas plant. But then we thought that we know how to produce animal feed best and that EnviTec knows very well how to build biogas plants. So we very quickly reached an agreement, explained Thomas Schulze, Plant Manager of Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer GmbH & Co. KG (‘Cremer’) in Herzberg. The biogas plant and heat supply is the result of cooperation between Cremer E.ON launch Biogas 100, break ground on major biogas plant in Denmark 18 Bioenergy International No 79, 3-2015 and EnviTec Biogas Beteiligungsgesellschaft, a subsidiary of the German biogas technology supplier EnviTec Biogas AG. Cremer provided the site and leased it to EnviTec, who financed and built the biogas plant. The plant consists of two 500 kW electric output modules and the heat generated in the electricity production process is sold to Cremer. – Thanks to this cooperation, we need fewer fossil fuels, which greatly improves our bottom line and carbon footprint here at Herzberg, said Schulze. Heat and saturated vapour The biogas plant uses poultry manure, liquid manure and other non-food organics, so called “NawaRos” (Nachwachsende Rohstoffe) as feedstock material. A heat pipe carries water heated to around 90 ˚C from the biogas plant to the Cremer facility. Apart from heating the administrative building and the production halls the heat is also used in the production process to ensure that the liquid state of ingredients such as oil, fat or molasses is maintained at temperatures in the storage tanks between 40-60 ˚C. Another pipeline from the biogas plant supplies saturated water vapour that is used in the pelletising process. – We need about one tonne of saturated vapour per hour. About two thirds of this volume is supplied by the biogas plant, said Thomas Schulze. The saturated vapour comes from a steam plant that utilises the high exhaust gas temperatures from biogas combustion in the co-generation units thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the plant. This saturated vapour is supplied to Cremer at 180 ˚C and a pressure of 10 bar. – We are of course pleased that we are able to make a contribution to climate protection. However entering into the partnership with EnviTec Biogas was fundamentally a very sensible business decision especially in light of increasing fossil fuel prices, ended Thomas Schulze. Text: Alan Sherrard Photo: courtesy EnviTec Biogas BI79/4842/AS Like many other processing industries, heating oil has been used for fuel by one of Germany’s leading animal feed producers for its process heat needs. Since the end of 2009 a neighbouring biogas plant has been supplying a major share of the heat demand for its Herzberg production facility. This has cut GPTTJMDBSCPOEJPYJEF emissions and improved the bottom-lines of both operations. German energy major E.ON has, via its subsidiary E.ON Gas Sweden, launched a new vehicle-grade biomethane fuel, Biogas 100 onto the Swedish market. According to E.ON it is 100 percent biomethane unlike other vehicle grade methane, including its own Biogas 50 that consists of 50 percent fossil gas and 50 percent biomethane. Both E.ON products are independently third-party verified by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in order to guarantee that E.ON replaces the exact volume of renewable biomethane that is bought by customers. – As a leading player on the Swedish biomethane market it is a natural step for us to allow an independent party to audit our products. Our vehicle gas clients are environmentally conscious and want to decrease their carbon impact. This is a means to support them while guaranteeing that their choice contributes to cleaner transportation. We are many participants within the value chain, from vehicle manufacturing and sales to biofuel producers, distributors and filling station operators that are pas- sionate about Sweden having a fossil independent vehicle fleet by 2030, said Tina Helin CEO, E.ON Gas Sweden. In a separate announcement the Danish subsidiary E.ON Denmark has announced it has together with its investment and project partner Sønderjysk Biogas Invest A/S begun construction of one the world’s largest biogas and upgrading plants in Denmark. The DKK 250 million plant is scheduled to be completed in summer 2016 and is expected to supply 210 GWh per annum, which corresponds to an annual fuel consumption of 15 000 cars, or about 600 buses. – E.ON Denmark has worked long and hard to establish this cooperation. Biogas production must increase if Denmark is able to meet its climate goals. And we need more partnerships like this to secure the transition to more renewables, says Tore Harritshøj, CEO of E.ON Denmark. BI79/4873/AS
Bioenergy no 3 May 2015
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