Germany-headed biogas technology provider Weltec Biopower GmbH has revealed that its subsidiary Nordmethan GmbH has taken over an insolvent 2.2 MW biogas plant in Südergellersen, Lower Saxony, Germany effective as of August 1.
According to a statement, Nordmethan will fully modernise the technical and operational concept of the plant with project development work already underway.
Following a takeover negotiation process of about two years, we will speedily modernise the plant technology in order to ensure its going concern, said Jens Albartus, Director of Weltec Biopower and Nordmethan.
The original plant had been set up in 2009 and expanded in 2014. The operator’s concept was based on the digestion of horse manure and sale of the digestate as fertiliser pellets. However, as the concept turned out to be technically difficult and economically unfeasible, the plant subsequently went bankrupt.
Following the takeover by the Weltec on August 1, the substrate input is being adjusted, and the plant technology is being modernised. The two 3 000 m3 capacity digesters will be largely fed with renewable raw materials and horse manure from local suppliers within a range of under 15 km.
The biogas will be used to run two cogeneration power plants with an electrical output of 1.1 MW each. Nordmethan will supply the power to the public power grid. Part of the exhaust heat from the cogeneration is to be used for drying the digestate.
Initially, extensive upgrade and repair work will be performed to ensure profitable operation of the biogas plant: Among other things, the investments comprise of modernisation work on the two cogeneration power plants and the solid matter input systems.
Additionally, we will install two digestate storage units and two digestate dryers. By equipping the biogas plant with modern control technology and a drive-in silo system, we will ensure flexibility for all requirements, said Albartus.
Jens Albartus is highly optimistic about the future economic success of the 2.2 MW plant citing the company’s “strong” service department and the experience gained in building more than 300 biogas plants around the globe – the Weltec Group is “well prepared” for such refurbishment projects.
