Netherlands-based bioenergy technology specialists HoSt has announced that its subsidiary Bright Biomethane is to supply its first ever biomethane-to-grid project in Scotland. Construction of the modular and compact biogas upgrading system will produce sustainable biomethane from various wastes and residues. The system will be installed in the north of Scotland.

According to a statement, the gas-to-grid system, with proven membrane technology and a patented control system to ensure a quick gas-to-grid start-up, is initially suitable for 1 000 Nm3 ingoing biogas per hour and upgrades the biogas to 600 Nm3 of biomethane per hour.
Future proof build out
Completely according to the wishes of the undisclosed customer, the future-proof and easily extendable system can be extended to 1 200 Nm3 biogas per hour, which will result in a flow of 720 Nm3 of biomethane per hour. After upgrading, the produced biomethane is directly delivered to the national gas grid.
The sustainable gas can, for example, be used for cooking and heating and is sufficient for approximately 2 600 Scottish households and 3 100 households in the future. Alternatively, the produced gas can also be used as compressed biogas (aka bio-CNG) for vehicle fuel. Scotland has currently 14 biomethane facilities, out of a total of 85 in the UK according to the 2018 European Biomethane Map.
A number of projects in the UK are under construction and more orders in the UK are expected in the short term, remarked Maarten Holtkamp, Sales Manager, Bright Bioemethane.
Food-grade CO2
In addition to the production of biomethane, the system can also be extended with a Bright CO2-liquefaction plant to recover and liquefy the CO2. This liquefied CO2 has food-grade quality and can be used in the food and beverage industry, greenhouses, refrigeration sector and at slaughterhouses.
According to the company, a “great advantage” of the technology is that the methane slip is reduced even further bringing it closer to zero as any remaining methane returns to the biogas upgrading plant.
Proven membrane upgrading technology
Bright Biomethane is experienced in managing biogas produced from all biomass feedstock and wastes. Based on this experience, reliable biogas pre-treatment solutions can be offered to ensure the correct biogas specification is achieved before upgrading.
Bright Biomethane uses the proven 3-stage membrane technology for the purification of the biogas to achieve maximum performance and recovery of methane of 99.5 percent and higher.