Finland-headed international energy and marine technology group Wärtsilä Oyj has announced that it will supply, install, commission, and start up the biogas upgrading and liquefaction units for a Swedish bioLNG plant. The new plant is an extension of an existing biomethane and bioLNG plant supplied earlier by Wärtsilä, and will increase the production of bioLNG from 20 to 45 tonnes per day.
Located in Linköping, the plant is owned by Tekniska Verken, a municipality-owned utility company and a pioneer in Sweden in biogas and bioLNG production.
Tekniska Verken offers services in the areas of electricity, water, waste, biogas, district heating, broadband, and renewable energy.
By expanding our capacity for biomethane in both gaseous and liquid form, we are complementing our existing upgrading and liquefaction plant, as well as continuing to contribute to the journey towards our vision of becoming the world’s most resource-effective region. Our experience with the existing Wärtsilä plant has been positive, so we are looking forward to this extension project, said Anna Lövsén, CEO Svensk Biogas and Business Area Manager, Biogas, Tekniska Verken.
Circular business model
The biogas plant produces biomethane (aka renewable natural gas – RNG) from organic waste, including food waste, and from the municipality’s wastewater treatment (WWTP) residue.
The bioLNG is used as fuel for the transport sector and industry in Sweden. At Tekniska Verken’s subsidiaries, Svensk Biogas bioLNG filling stations for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) represent a circular business model.
It is fully renewable and, depending upon the feedstock from which it is produced, can even be carbon-negative.
The Wärtsilä processing solution includes its patented VAC vacuum technology option in the upgrader, which offers greater flexibility for the heat supply to the upgrader. This allows Tekniska Verken to supply the needed process heat from their district heating network.
Tekniska Verken is at the forefront of producing and promoting bioLNG in Sweden, and we are honoured to have been selected to further extend their existing plant. Our corporate policy is to enable decarbonized operations wherever possible, and we look forward to delivering another high-performance process solution, commented Magnus Folkelid, Sales Manager Biogas, Wärtsilä Gas Solutions.
The Wärtsilä scope features its Puregas biogas upgrading system Puregas CA, its Mixed Refrigerant (MR) biogas liquefaction solution, a 250 m3 storage tank, an export station, and a Boil Off Gas (BOG) module.
The biogas upgrading system can also inject biomethane into the local biogas grid.
The Wärtsilä equipment, the value of which has not been disclosed, is scheduled to be delivered in December 2024, and the new plant is expected to become operational in the first half of 2025.
