Germany-based biogas technology suppliers and plant operators EnviTec Biogas AG has announced that its first biogas-to-biomethane upgrading project in France is now feeding into the local network after a construction time of just ten months.
This marks the next chapter in the success story of our innovative EnviThan gas upgrading technology in France, which is now the most dynamic market for biogas plants, said Christian Ernst, Managing Director of EnviTec Biogas’s French subsidiary.
The operators, two agricultural businesses specialising in arable farming, are running the facility with agricultural waste, silage and sugar beet pulp. A second stage is also planned, in which the plant will be expanded from its current output of 130 Nm³/h to 400 Nm³/h.
The plant is already prepared for this expansion stage – only the membranes actually need to be added later, explained Stefan Laumann, Head of Gas Upgrading at EnviTec’s plant construction division.
According to the company, the planning and construction of the biogas plant in France presented its subsidiary, EnviTec Anlagenbau, with several novel challenges.
Our customers’ plant is located close to the historically important town of Senlis, so one key task at the outset was satisfying the local authorities’ architectural regulations, said Ernst.
The new plant is located about 20 km away from Senlis.
Thanks to our strengths in project management and customer-focused plant design, we’ve already been commissioned to build a second plant of the same size, said Sylvain Mesnard, Sales Director at EnviTec France.
A positive revenue outlook
The recent commissioning of the joint project with Valois Energie marks the eighth biogas plant completed by the French subsidiary. Most of these biogas plants are facilities operated with waste from manufacturing and agriculture.
The robust climate policy adopted by the Macron government means we’re expecting good revenue performance in the next few years here in Europe’s agricultural powerhouse, said Ernst.
While the installed output of all 478 biogas plants and landfill sites was 385 MW at the end of September 2016, the government plans to reduce the share of nuclear in French power production to 50 percent from the current 70 percent.
This development will naturally have a positive effect on the further expansion of renewables, concluded Christian Ernst.
In 2014, the share of renewables in the French national energy market was just 14 percent. The target for 2030 is around 32 percent, to be reached in a series of stages.
