Germany-headed biogas technology suppliers and plant operators EnviTec Biogas AG (EnviTec) has announced that it via its subsidiary EnviTec Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG, received its third order for its EnviThan biogas upgrading technology from the Estonian company AS EG Ehitus. This time the biogas upgrading plant and compressed natural gas (CNG) compressor unit will be put into service at an existing biogas plant in Oisu no later than May 2021.
With just 1.3 million inhabitants—roughly the same population as Lower Saxony in Germany, the Republic of Estonia is the smallest Baltic state. Estonia joined the European Union in 2004 and also has the lowest national debt of any EU member state, which according to EnviTec, gives it a positive entrepreneurial climate that also benefits those in the renewable energy sector.
Following the commissioning and successful performance test runs for two EnviThan gas upgrading plants within the short space of six months—and in the middle of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic—Estonian customer AS EG Ehitusa, a subsidiary of gas network operator AS Eesti Gaas, has now ordered its third plant from EnviTec Biogas.
Following our two projects in Tartu and Vinni, this plant in Oisu is solid proof of the long-term partnerships we achieve with our customers, said Lars von Lehmden, Managing Director of EnviTec Anlagenbau.
Before biogas can be upgraded to biomethane, the raw gas must first be purified and conditioned. As with the other plants, the Oisu plant will also use the innovative EnviThan biogas upgrading technology for this step.
For this environmentally friendly and exceptionally cost-effective process, EnviTec Biogas equips its gas upgrading plants with membrane modules from Evonik Fibres. The hollow fibre membranes purify the raw biogas generated in the biogas plants to yield a final methane content of over 97 percent purity by volume.
The new gas upgrading plant has a capacity of 427 Nm3/hour biomethane and is operated with raw gas from wet manure and food waste. Following the completion of the plant, the biomethane (aka renewable natural gas – RNG) will be compressed into bioCNG for distribution to the transport sector. This will involve filling the green fuel into truck trailers for delivery to service stations.
As a substitute for diesel in the transport sector, this is where biomethane can make a lasting contribution to climate protection, emphasised Lars von Lehmden.
He added that this approach is also attractive for Germany from a purely economic perspective.
It simply makes more sense to invest in the infrastructure that’s already in place than to focus on building a whole new infrastructure for EVs, Lehmden said.
