Biogas Journal English Issue May 2014

www.biogas.org

May_2014

German Biogas Association | ZKZ 50073

Bi

Gas Journal

english issue

The trade magazine of the biogas sector

Germany: amendment of the Renewable Energy Sources Act P. 6

Brazil: A promising market for biogas

Th

P. 34

South Africa: 3 GW potential of electricity P. 55

l a on i t a e intern

t e k r a m s a g o i b France

South Africa

Ghana Indonesia rgentina C a n a d a A

Costa Rica Malaysia l i z a R B India Germany Thailand TurkeY

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Editorial

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Things are changing – the global energy revolution is on its way

G

erman policy-makers are currently in the middle of preparing a new Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). The national German biogas market has changed significantly after the feed-in tariff for biogas was lowered in the EEG 2012. However, the establishment of the first state-of-the art EEG 14 years ago, and of its successors in 2004 and 2009, entailed that the share of renewable energies in the German gross electricity consumption reached the record high of 25.4% in 2013.

Furthermore, the EEG made Germany world leader in the use of biogas. Of the approximately 13,000 biogas power plants in the European Union, 7,800 are located within German borders, corresponding to an installed electric capacity of 3.5 GW which equals the capacity of around three nuclear power plants. This created a strong and innovative German biogas sector, with plenty of companies, whether planers or developers, manufacturers or operators, making the use of biogas efficient, safe and sustainable. Many of those companies have realized that it has become a necessity to look beyond European borders. For some, the jump into unknown waters and markets turned into a new adventure filled with passion and led to a good return on investment.

It is obvious that many companies focus on opportunities to export into industrialized countries. But more and more companies are keen to look into developing and emerging countries, where there is a huge potential for the use of biogas technology, and lately the interest in biogas has risen tremendously. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has many years of extensive experience in the implementation of biogas programs, helping the partners in developing and emerging countries to establish a political framework for renewable energy, giving technical assistance or supporting demonstration projects.

Therefore, the German Biogas Association and GIZ are extending their partnership to promote the use of biogas in a sustainable manner and to help companies to overcome challenges when entering developing markets. The

challenges related are broad, and reach from cultural differences, legal framework, security of investments and maintenance structure to a lack of market information and transparency.

This English edition of the Biogas Journal contains valuable information about the developments and best practice examples in different countries. From Costa Rica, where with the support of the GIZ and German technology a 250 kW plant, based on swine manure and slaughter house waste, was installed in 2013, to Thailand and its ambitious governmental program to install an additional 3.000 MW from energy crops, and Ghana and its biogas potential from agricultural residues.

Indonesia, world leader in the production of palm oil, starts to discover its biogas potential and is – like China, Brazil or other industrial, developing or emerging countries – in need of approved technology and know-how.

Also, the situation in India and the new support system for biogas in Malaysia are worth having a look at. The markets in Canada and France are improving and almost sound like “exotic” countries in this edition of the Biogas Journal.

Biogas is a flexible and storable energy source with the ability to balance the fluctuating energy produced by other renewable energies like wind and sun. Lessons have been learned, experiences have been made using biogas technology. There is no need to start from scratch over and over again. Together, and with partnerships, the change towards a global energy revolution is possible and necessary, as the new report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) points out once more.

Sincerely,

Clemens Findeisen, Consultant Development Cooperation Department of International Affairs German Biogas Association

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English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

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Publisher: German Biogas Association General Manager Dr. Claudius da Costa Gomez (Person responsible according to German press law) Andrea Horbelt (editorial support) Angerbrunnenstraße 12 D-85356 Freising Phone: +49 81 61 98 46 60 Fax: +49 81 61 98 46 70 e-mail: info@biogas.org Internet: www.biogas.org Editor: Martin Bensmann German Biogas Association Phone: +49 54 09 9 06 94 26 e-mail: martin.bensmann@biogas.org Advertising management & Layout: bigbenreklamebureau GmbH An der Surheide 29 D-28870 Ottersberg-Fischerhude Phone: +49 42 93 890 89-0 Fax: +49 42 93 890 89-29 e-mail: info@bb-rb.de Printing: Druckhaus Fromm, Osnabrück Circulation: 3,800

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The newspaper, and all articles contained within it, are protected by copyright.

Articles with named authors represent the opinion of the author, which does not necessarily coincide with the position of the German Biogas Association. Reprinting, recording in databases, online ser vices and the Internet, reproduction on data carriers such as CD-ROMs is only permitted after written agreement. Any articles received by the editor’s office assume agreement with complete or partial publication.

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

The international biogas market Editorial

3 Things are changing – the global energy revolution is on its way Clemens Findeisen, Consultant Development Cooperation Department of International Affairs German Biogas Association

4 Imprint

Country reports

6 Germany: Biogas: praised, subsidised … sacrificed?

By BSc. Eng. agr. Bastian Olzem

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10 France: Biogaz à la française

By Thomas Gaul 14 Turkey: A new and emerging market for bioenergy

By Prof. Dr. Nuri Azbar 22 Canada: Energy Garden with German know-how

By Christian Dany 25 Costa Rica: Biogas potentials in the agro-industry

By Irene Cañas and Carola Griebenow 30 Argentina: Biogas, yet another challenge

By Ileana Gabriela Pacher, Stefan Budzinski and María Alejandra Barlatey 34 Brazil: A promising market for biogas

By Jens Giersdorf and Victor Bustani Valente 38 Thailand: Additional 3,000 MW from energy plants by 2021

By Gisa Holzhausen, Supalerk Kanasook and Max Schönfisch

30

42 Malaysia: Millions in investments chasing billions in return: not finance on Wall Street, but biogas in Asia

By Vincent Choy 45 India: Prospects and challenges

By Gaurav Kumar Kedia 47 Indonesia: Extremely promising biogas potential in agricultural industry

By Rudolf Rauch 51 Ghana: Farm industry yearning for stability of energy supply

By Ulrike Daniel 55 South Africa: 3 GW potential of electricity from biogas

By Mark Tiepelt

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The Biogas Journal contains an insert of the company screw-press GmbH.

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English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Germany

Biogas: praised, subsidised … sacrificed?

Yet again we have an REL amendment − the fourth to date. Before now, biogas has never been so massively under attack by a German government. According to everything drawn up in terms of reform drafts by politics to date, it appears that the grand coalition is not just trying to prevent further extension, but to cut down the number of facilities all by itself.

Photo: www.landpixel.de

By BSc. Eng. agr. Bastian Olzem

Renewable Energy Sources Act are under construction: The Federal Government wants to drive the new building of biogas plants back very strongly. The biogas industry must do everything unanimously now so that such construction site pictures don‘t become a rareness.

6

A

s long ago as 6 1/2 years, the German government’s guesthouse − Schloss Meseberg − became a location for far-reaching energy policy decisions. On 23 August 2007, the first grand coalition under the leadership of Chancellor Merkel set the stage for the achievement of European climate protection aims and a changeover to renewable energies with its “Keynote measures for an integrated energy and climate program” (IEKP). Then, the program consisted of 29 action points, including the enhancement

of biogas infeed into the natural gas grid. The new grand coalition also agreed on the cornerstones for reforming the Renewable Energy Law (REL) in Meseberg on 22 and 23 of January 2014. After the discussions regarding the power price brake in January 2013 and the biomass passages in the coalition contract of 27 November 2013, the series of bad news for the biogas sector continued with this cornerstone paper.

It is true that the German Biogas Association was able to insert a protocol declaration in addition to the proposed measures via the CSU. Despite this, the biogas sector was shocked by the proposals contained in the paper.

According to the Meseberg Cornerstone paper, the German government wants to delete without replacement both raw material remuneration classes for the use of energy plants and liquid manures, in addition to the technology bonus for biogas treatment and infeed to the natural gas grid.

On top of this, the federal cabinet intends to set an extension cap of 100 MW per year for biomasses. The proposals have been justified as follows: “An important aim in this case is to break through the former cost dynamics of the REL and therefore to limit the increase in power prices for power consumers.” At this point, the following question comes up: why should only the costs and not the advantages and system benefits of storage-capable biogas be included and remunerated in an overall view?

Given the fact that offshore wind power is given a remuneration of 19 euro cents per kilowatt-hour in addition to the costs for difficult network connections, and is to be increased by a capacity of 6.5 GW (= 6,500 MW) by 2020, it appears that two different scales are being used to weigh up the costs.

REL working draft of the BMWi: it just can’t get worse On 12 February, a working draft for the REL reform was made known by the Federal Ministry for Economics and Energy (BMWi). According to the information available by copy deadline, it was not the official BMWi initial draft.

This working draft goes considerably beyond the Mese-

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

berg paper with its negative biomass proposals, and therefore even further beyond the coalition contract. The reader rapidly gets the impression that the BMWi purposely wants to throttle the very last business segment currently left for the approximately 700 biogas companies in Germany. ffCancellation without replacement of raw material remuneration classes (ESK) for energy plants and liquid manures. ffThe flexibility bonus available up to now is to be converted into a “scrappage bonus” for existing biogas facilities (§ 68). After this, only a reduction in power production will be rewarded. ffA retrospective prohibition on the extension and efficiency increase (§ 67 para. 1) for existing biogas facilities! The REL draft intends to pay only the monthly market value for any additional kilowatt hours fed in by old facilities generating more kilowatt hours, for example due to efficiency increases. ff100 MW breathable cover (§ 1 b) with depression increase on overrun of maximum extension. Referenced to installed capacity (= gross) and not to rated power output (= net). ffCancellation without replacement of air purity bonus for existing facilities (§ 67 para. 2 no. 1).

ffRemuneration in accordance with REL 2012 is only available if an approval was in existence for the facility by 22 January 2014 and went into operation by 31 December 2014 (§ 66 para. 3). ffOnly the basic remuneration as in REL 2014 will be paid for natural gas CHPs (combined heat and power generation plants), which were converted to biomethane after 31 July 2014, (§ 66 para. 2). ffNew facilities must be overbuilt by 200% (for example 1,000 kW installed capacity and 500 kW rated power output) and will then receive maximum remuneration for 4,380 full power hours in addition to the new capacity bonus of 40 euros per installed kilowatt (§ 27 para. 2). ffThe landscape care bonus is to be deleted for cultivated energy plants (§ 67 para. 2 no. 2) but, however, without a deadline regulation. ffThe technology bonus for gas processing is to be cancelled without replacement (§ 27 c).

In the justification for the BMWi working draft, the following was stated with regard to the cancellation of remuneration for power from energy plants: “The raw material-based subsidies have mostly been cancelled for power generated from biomasses compared with the REL 2012”. § 27, especially, no longer guarantees an ad-

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ditional raw material-based subsidy for the use of energy plants such as maize. Raw material-based special subsidy situations now occur for organic waste fermentation facilities in accordance with § 27 a and for small liquid manure facilities in accordance with § 27 b only.

The cancellation of raw material-based remuneration means that any further capacity increase of biogas production will now concentrate on inexpensive substrates, especially residual and waste substances. This will counteract further increases in the costs for power generation from biogas, since the previous capacity increase concentrated on highly-remunerated biogas production especially from agriculturally-produced biogas substrates like maize. This now makes visible the one-sided focus on the pure level of REL remuneration as a measure for the costs without consideration and offsetting of the benefits through biogas.

Biogas benefits for overall system not recognised The REL remuneration for biogas does not reflect its national economic costs! The average remuneration for biogas, at 17.5 euro cents/kWh in 2012, is around six euro cents above the average remuneration for photovoltaics at a level of 11.1 euro cents/kWh in 2014. However, a wide range of other economic costs were saved in comparison with the additional investment in biomass technology: 1. Investments in biogas save subsidy costs for other combined heat and power generation plants (CHP) in the context of the combined heat and power coupling law (KWKG). Since the overwhelming majority of existing biogas facilities (80% at the end of 2011) and practically all new facilities produce power in CHPs, the additional REL subsidy costs for biogas CHPs replace the subsidy costs in accordance with the KWKG. 2. Investments in biogas save capacity payments for fossil power stations and investments in reservoirs and backup power stations. Flexiblisation of the biogas facility stock is currently the cheapest form of extending flexible power generation capacities at between 2 and 4 euro cents/kWh. Since biogas facilities have an extremely short start-up time after standstill and do not require minimal operation, they are much more suitable as a flexibility option than coal-fired power stations.

3. Investments in biogas stabilise the stock market power price. Biogas facilities can prevent radical price outbreaks and therefore relieve pressure on the REL account through an operating mode based on the power price.

4. Investments in biogas reduce the costs of the must-run base for fossil power stations. Currently, many fossil power stations remain connected to the network even if there is an oversupply of power because they provide system services such as regulating energy provision.

Flexible biogas facilities can take over these system

8

services and have already proven this. Already, biogas facilities with a total of around 1,000 MW provide regulating energy.

5. Investments in biogas save costs for grid extensions and bottleneck management. Biogas facilities are distributed regionally and provide power and heat to final customers reliably. This means that costs for extending the supply grid, for compensation caused by throughput losses and for the throttling of facilities on grid bottlenecks are saved.

6. Investments in biogas save costs for climate protection measures. Fermentation of liquid manures in biogas facilities plays a considerable role in the reduction of greenhouse gases from agriculture. Simultaneous production of heat also reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the heat sector.

7. Investments in biogas production from organic wastes saves communal costs for organic waste treatment.

This list could be extended on and on. It is intended to clarify the relevance of biogas for the power system and to provide the line of argument for this purpose. These points appear to have played no role in the formulation of the REL working draft. What happens next? You can find the schedule for the REL amendment at www.biogas.org.

Improvements can only be achieved jointly!

Determination of position on the REL reform is currently running at full throttle throughout the federal states. The REL does not formally require approval. Despite this, SPD party leader Gabriel is dependent on taking the most important state interests into account appropriately to ensure that the Federal Council joint committee is not called into action. A joint committee process would prevent the amendment coming into force on 1 August.

Even the energy politicians amongst the Lower House MPs are already busying themselves with the REL working draft. For this reason, the coming weeks are decisive for the biogas sector. To achieve improvements, biogas companies, planners, facility operators and interested persons must point out the many benefits of biogas to representatives of the state governments and the lower house MPs and present their demands for changes to the REL draft with considerable self-confidence. In this case, we are dealing with no less than the continued existence of the biogas sector and technology in Germany. The German Biogas Association is politically active appropriately and will inform its members as early as possible.

Author BSc. Eng. agr. Bastian Olzem

English Issue

Biogas Journal  |  MAY_2014

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English Issue

Biogaz à la française

For a long time, Germany´s neighbour did not do very much in the biogas field. Now, however, the French government is putting its foot on the pedal: 1,000 biogas facilities are to be built by 2020, which is equivalent to an investment volume of around 2 billion euros. This will enable 800,000 households to be provided with renewable power from biogas, and the production of renewable heat would replace 55,000 t of oil.

By Thomas Gaul

T

he atomic nation France is now pushing on with the energy revolution. Next year a ”climate tax“ is to be raised on fossil fuels. A special tax on the atomic company profits is also intended to help financing the extension of renewable energy. The intention is to reduce the proportion of atomic energy in the power production field from 75 to 50%.

Up to now, ”renewable“ energy in France was mainly sourced from water power, photovoltaics and − to a lesser extent − wind energy, and the biogas energy source remained considerably behind its potential. Biogas plays a considerably smaller role than in Germany, with only 3% of power generation from renewable energy. Only 300 facilities are operating in total, and 100 of these are in the agricultural sector. But the country has huge areas in agricultural use, which results in an extremely large potential.

1,500 biogas facilities are intended to start operation in France by 2020, the installed capacity is intended to increase to 625 MW. The French government set up an important incentive in May 2011, as they raised the remuneration for power produced from biogas by 20%. On top of this, infeed of biogas into

10

the national gas grid was made possible for the first time.

Facilities are allowed to feed in both gas and power One of the French specialities is the fact that new facilities may feed in both gas and power and do not have to decide for one specific process as in Germany. The graduation of tariffs (see box) is especially beneficial to the operators of smaller plants, such as those easily constructed in the agricultural sector.

This is because the plan for ”Energy, Biogas and Nitrogen Autonomy“ (ENAA) which was passed on 29 March by Agriculture Minister Stéphane LeFoll and his former colleague Delphine Batho, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, followed two aims: to reduce the use of mineral fertilisers in agriculture and partially replace them by fermentation products, in addition to the increase in energy production.

The dependency of French agriculture on mineral fertilisers is to be reduced by using organic nitrogen from biogas production. 10 million euros are available for ”integrated nitrogen management“. This would enable biogas to be a solution to the problems suf-

”German companies have a technological advantage” Christophe Klinkert fered by regions such as Brittany. Liquid manure from intensive pig farming enters the sea during spreading, where the nitrate causes an excessive growth of green algae.

These are then washed onto the beaches and form ammonia and hydrogen sulphide during their disintegration.

In order to achieve the ambitious extension aims for biogas, the French are placing great value on the know-how available from the leading German suppliers of biogas technology. ”That is the biggest advantage German companies have,”Christophe Klinkert, who is active on both sides of the Rhine as a business lawyer, confirmed. ”There is no biogas industry in France like there is in Germany.”

France is currently considered to be one of the most attractive markets in Europe for leading facility manufacturers. This is mainly due to the attractive remuneration available

Photo: PlanET Biogastechnik GmbH

France

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

English Issue

Photo: PlanET Biogastechnik GmbH

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

from the new electricity feed law. However, the first companies have already been represented on the French market for a couple of years, more precisely since 2006, when France became one of the first countries after Germany to introduce remuneration for power from biogas facilities.

PlanET and WELTEC then started activities in the neighbouring country. ”We have achieved good market penetration over the past eight years,” PlanET CEO Hendrik Becker summarised. The company from Vreden intends to have 12 biogas plants in operation by the end of the year, and a further four are currently under construction.

Maize is not an issue The suppliers have to adjust their technology to suit a wide-ranging substrate input. This is because France does not have a renewable primary product bonus, and therefore energy plants only play a very small role in comparison with Germany. One example of the flexibility required is a facility built by EnviTec Ribeauvillé, Alsace. It is currently one of the largest biogas facilities in France with an installed capacity of 1,415 kW. It processes mainly beef manure and wastes from the foodstuffs industry which, in France, can still be handed over free of charge or even for a fee to biogas plant operators − the

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companies would otherwise have to pay for disposal. Separation and reuse of waste from commercial kitchens, works canteens and schools is now prescribed. The foodstuffs, which are occasionally still packed, are unpacked and cleaned in a separate plant.

The three operators, who have formed the Agrivalor Energie company, provide a casino, the connected hotel and a neighbouring housing development with heat from the facility. The WELTEC facilities currently under construction will also ferment sewage sludge in addition to catering waste. Hygienisation units are therefore almost standard in French facilities.

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Most biogas plants in France are in the capacity range of between 100 and 250 kW. The reason for this is the approval process: Before the construction of a biogas plant is allowed in France, a legal emission protection process (the so-called ”procédure ICPE“) needs to be carried out in addition to the relatively simple construction approval process. Depending on their size, biogas facilities erected up to 26 July 2010 all had to go through the long (duration often up to 15 months) and cost-intensive approval process.

Only smaller facilities required merely the commissioning declaration (”déclaration“). The new decree proposes a simplified registration process (”procédure d’enregistrement“) for biogas facilities which consume between 30 and 50 t of substrate per day (the majority of French facilities). An important requirement is that the substrate consists of nonhazardous or organic wastes.

Sewage works, for example, are excepted.

The ”procédure d’enregistrement“ is intended to take a maximum of five months and saves the owner going through the public hearing (”enquête publique“) in addition to the hazard and environmental compatibility study (”etudes de dangers et de faisabilité“).

However, French bureaucracy is having a slightly dampening effect on the biogas euphoria. This could well be due to the fact that biogas is still a new subject in France. ”In many areas, the approval authorities and financing partners suffer from a complete deficit of information which extends the duration of project development,” Timothée Bellet, CEO of Biogaz PlanET France s.ar.l. explains.

Business lawyer Christophe Klinkert expects that the approval duration will decrease due to the new legislation, and therefore the project costs will also go down. However, Torsten Fischer, CEO of Krieg + Fischer Ingenieure GmbH, has not been able to note this in practice: ”Everything is just the same as it always was: extremely lengthy.” With their main focus on waste fermenting facilities, the engineers from Göttingen can look back on eight years of experience in the French sector. Public invitation to tender or other formal processes are compulsorily in France for all major construction projects (construction costs above 5 million euros).

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Electricity remuneration for biogas from May 19th, 2011 Basic tariff: Output < 150 kW: 13.37 ct/kWh Output < 300 kW: 12.67 ct/kWh Output < 500 kW: 12.18 ct/kWh Output < 1,000 kW: 11.68 ct/kWh Output < 2,000 kW: 11.19 ct/kWh Tariffs of between 8.121 and 9.745 ct/kWh apply to fermentation of waste. There is a bonus of 2.6 ct/kWh for biogas made from liquid manure and dung (for facilities of up to 1 MW). Heat utilisation (except for fermenter heating) is paid at an additional 4 ct/kWh. Gas supply (tariff in accordance with ministerial legislation of 21 November 2011): Basic tariff between 6.4 and 9.5 ct/kWh Bonuses between 2 and 3 ct/kWh when using raw materials from agriculture, 0.5 ct/kWh for household waste.

The average French biogas facility …has an output of 220 kW …consumes around 7,700 t of substrate a year, or around 20 t per day …uses dung or liquid manure to around 65% …receives an energy infeed remuneration of 18.97 ct/kWh …uses 66% of its heat energy for the drying of fermentation goods, grain, wood and heated stalls, flats and greenhouses …has pure construction costs of 7,000 euros/kW

This applies especially to the construction of waste fermentation facilities which are put out to tender by the regional authorities.

France passed a biomethane infeed law in

Photo: MT-Energie GmbH

Lower facility class much sought-after

”There is a considerable interest in gas treatment processes” Timothée Bellet November 2011, one of the first countries to do so. The following applies to infeed of biogas: the smaller the facility, the more lucrative its operation. If 125 standard cubic metres (Nm3) are fed in over one hour, the remuneration is 11.3 ct/kWh. Smaller facilities with an infeed rate of 50 cubic metres per hour receive 12.9 ct for each kilowatt hour. ”There is now considerable interest in gas treatment processes but, in contrast to the German market, mostly on behalf of the agricultural operators,” Timothée Bellet from Biogaz PlanET France stated: ”Smaller performance classes which can treat biogas without the use of chemicals, if possible, are in demand in accordance with the facility structure in France. Since the French infeed laws also provide a limit value for in-house power consumption within gas treatment technology, the demand for membrane preparation processes is particularly high. The principle of selective permeation manages without the use of heat and chemicals, and can therefore be applied with relatively low investment costs and short installation times in all performance classes.”

Now that MT-Energie has been awarded contracts for the construction of eight biogas facilities this year, the contracts for the subsequent gas processing were also signed

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

in the middle of August. The process of gas separation with Evonik membrane modules was introduced with a special view towards the French market. MT-Energie currently has 13 biogas projects under contract, eight of these are fitted out with a processing plant using MT membrane technology.

Getting thermal efficiency

Electricity network often too weak Eight farmers from the Champagne region south of Paris are behind these projects. The size of the triple-tank facilities is designed for a gas treatment capacity of 250 Nm³, which is equivalent to an electrical capacity of around 500 kW. Although the connections to the gas network were carried out without problems, the French electricity network is too weak for the infeed of decentralised energies in many locations. ”France is still a very strong atomic power country,” WELTEC CEO Jens Albartus says. The fact that the network belongs to the state-owned ERDF and the partially state-owned energy company EdF, which operates all the atomic power stations in France, speaks for itself.

Despite this, the investment climate for biogas projects in France is extremely favourable.

Companies which have established their technology on the German market and can offer additional consultancy services, for example covering heat utilisation, can score points.

Companies which have their own branch office in France and have built up a service network, have additional advantages.

Newcomers on the market should get as much information as possible, for example during seminars such as those which consultant Annette Nüsslein offers regularly.

A further training session with ”updates“ on the French biogas market and the legal framework conditions took place for the fifth time in September. The endearing cultural character should also not be underestimated. Especially in rural areas of France, the owners of small companies and farmers are particularly appreciative when negotiations only start after an extensive meal.

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Author Thomas Gaul Freelance journalist Im Wehrfeld 19a ∙ D-30989 Gehrden Phone: 0049 1 72/512 71 71 e-mail: gaul-gehrden@t-online.de

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TurkeY

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

A new and emerging market for bioenergy

Turkey is an emerging and attractive market for the bioenergy sector, especially for the biogas-based electricity production. It may be estimated that around 3,000 biogas plants (500 kW each) will be constructed in the next 20 years, which would correspond to a market of 9 billion euros.

By Prof. Dr. Nuri Azbar

T

he economy of Turkey is defined as an emerging market economy by the IMF, and the country is one of the developed countries, which makes Turkey also one of the world’s newly industrialised countries.

The country is among the world’s leading producers of agricultural products, textiles, motor vehicles, ships and other transportation equipment, construction materials, consumer electronics and home appliances.

In recent years, Turkey had a rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in industry, banking, transport, and communications. Turkey has the world’s 17th largest nominal GDP and 15th largest GDP by PPP. The country is a founding member of the OECD (1961) and the G-20 major economies (1999). Since 31 December, 1995, Turkey is also a member of the EU Customs Union and has been in the process of accession to EU. Turkey is often classified as a newly industrialised country by economists

and political scientists; while Merrill Lynch, the World Bank, and The Economist describe Turkey as an emerging market economy.

The acceleration in the industrial and agricultural productivity in Turkey also creates a great demand for energy supply, which is mainly dependent on external resources.

In this manner, local and renewable energy alternatives, including the production of biogas from agro-based organic materials, have become quite important. Governmental support for renewable energy production attracted not only national but also international energy companies, which resulted in an increasing number of new business activities in the production of renewable energy, including the production of biogas from agro-based organic materials such as animal manure, green house wastes and other agricultural organic wastes related to food production (e.g. cheese whey wastewater, olive mill effluent etc.) in Turkey. In addition to agricultural organic wastes, organic frac-

tions of municipal solid wastes which have been dumped or landfilled so far, and wastewater treatment sludge also offer possibilities for producing a great amount of biogas using modern biogas production solutions in Turkey.

Current developments and trends of biogas in Turkey The agricultural sector employs 27.6% of the population in Turkey. Livestock constitutes one-third of all agricultural activities. Turkey’s land area is 78 million hectares, with an arable land area of 28 million hectares.

This corresponds to 36% of the total land area. Field crops are grown in the majority of agricultural fields. According to the last agricultural census (2009) in Turkey, there are a total of 3,076,650 agricultural enterprises, and approximately 70% of these farms are running livestock farming. According to the Turkish statistical institute (TUIK), 0.75% is hybrid, 34.44% are cattle culture, 24% are Turkish delegation on a biogas information journey in Germany April 2014.

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English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Table 1: Theoretical and technical biogas potential by sektors Substrate

Theoretical Biogas Potential [PJ/year]

Technical Biogas Potential [PJ/year]

Technical Biogas Potential [PJ/year]

Agriculture livestock

Cattle Manure Poultry Manure

115,9 36,6

47,3 36,2

83,5

Agricultural Residues

Straw of cereals Sugar beet leaf Tomato Wastes

276,7 17,5 11,1

27,7 4,4 4,1

36,1

Energy crops

Energy Crops on fallow land

300,0

75,0

75,0

Agro-Industrial Residues

Meat production residues Cheese - waste water Sugar beet press cake molasses (sugar production) Olive press cke Olive mill waste water Juoce residues (Pomace) Draff (Bioethanol-production)

0,5 2,7 5,0 3,3 1,3 1,3 1,8 0,9

0,2 2,4 4,5 2,9 1,2 1,2 1,5 0,8

14,7

Municipal Waste

22,0

11,0

11,0

796,4 496,4 219,7

220,4 145,4 117,7

Municipal Waste

Total (with energy crops) Total (without energy crops) Total (without energy crops and straw)

Theoretical Biogas Potential [PJ/year]

Technical Biogas Potential [PJ/year]

Agriculture - livestock Agricultural Residues Energy crops Agro-Industrial Residues Municipal Waste

152,5 305,3 300,0 16,6 22,0

83,5 36,1 75,0 14,7 11,0

Total (with energy crops) Total (without energy crops) Total (without energy crops and straw)

796,4 496,4 219,7

220,4 145,4 117,7

domestic cattle and 0.81% is composed of buffalos out of a total of 10,811,165 for the cattle group. Domestic sheep has the largest share with 77.10% of the small ruminant animals amongst a total of 26,877,793.

This is followed by 18.53% goats, 3.82% and 0.55% merino sheep and angora goats respectively. In poultry, 69.83% are chicken meat, 28.41% are laying hens, 1.18% is turkey, 0.40% is duck and 0.18% is goose for a total of 234,082,206 pieces. The amount of wet waste of these animals is about 121 million t. These wastes could be a major problem for enterprises if they cannot be utilised properly. The best way to manage these wastes in an environmentally friendly way is to recover the bioenergy and fertiliser value of these wastes via biogas technologies.

Turkey’s calculated biogas potential is about 2.18 billion m3 (2.18 Gm3) by using animal numbers of TUIK in 2009. 68% of the total biogas potential is of cattle origin, 5% of small ruminant and 27% of poultry origin. The po-

A Turkish delegation visits the biogas plant of the Berlin town cleaning.

tential of Turkey’s biogas energy equivalent is about 49 PJ (1,170.4 ktoe). Similar works that were carried out in this area indicate a gross biogas potential of 3,302.85 million cubic meters and 2,350 ktoe (ton petroleum equivalent) from animal wastes in Turkey.

Milk production (cheese whey) Milk production has a significant place in Turkey’s agricultural sector. The milk and milk products industry has a 14.7% (3,250 enterprises) share in the Turkish food and beverage industry. Milk and milk products play a very important role in the nutrition of the citizens and the sector plays an important role in the national economy. Turkey ranks fifteenth in the world’s milk production. Large and medium scale farms are usually located in the West of Turkey. A few large scale enterprises are located in the East of Turkey. As reported by Coskun et.al (2012), the produced whole milk is not processed totally in up-todate large scale or small scale factories. 20% of the milk are sold without being processed and packed. 20% of the milk are consumed on the farms. 27% and 33% of the milk are processed in up-to-date large scale and small scale factories, respectively. This corresponds to the processing of only 60% of the total milk production in factories. By taking the above information into account, the potential for the production of biogas from milk-processing wastewater (70% methane + 30% CO2) reaches up to about 54.2 million cubic meters per year in Turkey.

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English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Eutrophication test with fermenting remains of the location Gönen, Turkey. And also a planting test with tomatoes and peppers seedlings in May 2013.

Other agricultural wastes Turkey is a country with a rich agricultural potential, with 26 million ha agriculturally arable land. In total, an annual 55 million tons of agricultural biomass (wheat straw, barley straw, maize stalk, cotton cocoon shell, sunflower shell, sugar beet waste, hazelnut, oat straw, rye straw, rise hulk, fruit shell, olive cake) is estimated to be produced with an energy value of approximately 648 PJ/year.

Eutrophication test with fermenting remains of the location Gönen, Turkey.

Turkey is the fourth largest olive producing country in the world and fifth in olive oil production. Latest statistics show that 1,250 olive oil production facilities are in operation in Turkey. The process through which olive oil is produced results in a number of by-products that are potentially harmful to the environment. One of these by-products is pomace, which can be re-processed as oil and used as a raw material in food, or in the industrial and

energy sectors. The other by-product is olive mill wastewater (OMWW), the composition of which varies with respect to the system it is produced under. It usually consists of water (83– 92%) that is rich in organics. Turkey produces an average of approximately 891,393 tonnes of OMWW per two years using the current mill production technologies, and hence faces the problem of OMWW. On the other hand, OMWW has a high potential for biogas production (ap-

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Table 2: Biogas plants in Turkey Biogas plant in Operation

Capacity in operation (MW)

Biogas plants in planing

Capacity in planning (MW)

Biogas plants total

Total capacity (MW)

Total

85

340,44

72

224,93

157

565,37

Agricultural (animal waste, crops)

10

15,21

11

38,90

21

54,11

Food Industry (waste water, organic waste)

17

13,68

2

3,88

19

17,56

Municipality (landfill gas, waste water)

29

155,77

18

60,50

47

216,27

Municipality (landfill gas)

25

151,73

14

55,36

39

207,09

Municipality (waste water)

4

4

5,14

8

9,19

Undefined

0

23

61,15

23

61,15

4,05

proximately 40-90 m3 biogas/m3 OMWW) due to its high organic content (100-220 gCOD/L).

OMWW from small to large scale mills should be transported to locally centralised biogas plants, where it is co-digested with other organic materials, such as animal manures and other agricultural waste materials.

other hand, one should consider the fact that Turkish farmers do not like the idea of using energy crops for biogas production, instead they prefer using the crops as livestock feed.

Gas production can be roughly estimated on a per capita basis. The normal yield is 15 to 22 liters/person and day, in primary plants treating domestic wastewater. In secondary treatment plants, the gas production is increased to about 28 liters/person and day. Considering that Turkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population is around 75 million, the theoretical biogas potential of treatment plant sludges in Turkey is about 767 million m3, corresponding to an installed power of 210 MW in total. Assuming an average capital cost of 3,000 euros for a digester, a total investment of 630 million euros is required.

Potential of energy plants

Municipal solid wastes (MSW)

The total agricultural area in Turkey is estimated to be 26 million hectares, and 4.5 million of this area are not used for various reasons. If this land was allocated for energy crop cultivation, up to 325 PJ/year of additional energy could be recovered. On the

The main disposal method of municipal solid wastes in Turkey is still landfilling, on the other hand, the constraints from land scarcity as one of the main obstacles, the need for complying with EU regulations on solid waste management, and the promotions via

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English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Geographical distribution of animal wastes Theoretical biogas potential In total Cattle + Poultry: 144.366 TJ/year

broiler chicken

20% 5%

laying chicken

75%

(c) Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gGmbH (DBFZ) 2011

Technical biogas potential In total Cattle + Poultry: 78.372 TJ/year

broiler chicken 36%

laying chicken

54% 10%

(c) Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gGmbH (DBFZ) 2011

+

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Feedstocks and conversion technologies

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Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

new renewable energy incentives pushes the current waste management method towards the bio-methanisation option. It is estimated that ca. 25 million tonnes of MSW are produced in Turkey annually, which includes almost 50% biodegradable materials.

For instance in Istanbul, almost 45% of the produced MSW are of organic nature, whereas 34% of them may be recovered and 21% are composed of miscellaneous materials. Thus, MSW should be considered as an opportunity for the production of value added final products such as bioenergy and organic fertiliser, instead of considering it “waste” that needs to be disposed of. In the framework of the Kyoto agreements, which Turkey has already signed, the production of methane from wastes should be encouraged. Assuming an average biogas production of 25 m3 per wet ton of MSW (74 m3/ tbiowaste), approximately 6,11x108 m3 of biogas could be produced each year corresponding to a biogas potential of 22 PJ/year. The biomethanisation of the organic fraction of the MSW can become a feasible option by applying subsidies to the production of electricity from wastes.

Biogas plants in Turkey Even though biogas technology has been employed for a long time, especially in industrial wastewater treatment solutions and the exploitation of landfill gas, the use of agriculture-based biogas technology could be considered as quite new in Turkey. Upon the governmental incentives in 2011, a number of biogas plants using animal waste and agricultural biomass were constructed, and the interest for biogas from investors is about to bloom slowly. Currently, the number of biogas plants is quite limited in Turkey (Table 2).

At the moment, there are 11 agricultural biogas plants in operation, but 11 more in construction and planning. So far, the biogas technology has been used mainly for the exploitation of landfill gas and biogas from wastewater treatment plant sludge. As shown in Table 2, the total installation power in operation is only 340 MW, which indicates a quite high room available for investments in the near future.

Legal framework Turkey’s renewable energy support mechanism is based on a feed-in tariff support mechanism to promote renewable energy resources. This mechanism has been regu-

lated by the ”Law on the Utilisation of Renewable Energy Resources for the Purpose of Generating Electrical Energy“. According to this law, power plants that have come into operation since 18 May, 2005, or will come into operation before 31 December, 2015, will be eligible to receive the feed-in tariffs given in Table 3 for the first ten years of their operation. Renewable energy resources in the scope of this law are: wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, biogas from biomass (landfill gas included), wave, current and tidal energy resources together with hydraulic generation plants, either canal or run of river type, or with a reservoir area of less than fifteen square kilometers.

The use of renewable energy sources for the purpose of electric power generation has been amended by law (YEK). The amendment was published in the official gazette on 8 January, 2011. In addition, if the mechanical or electro-mechanical equipment of the power plant is produced locally, a premium will be added to the feed-in tariffs for the first five years of operation. These incentives are guaranteed by law for ten years for active power plants which have an operating license between 18 May, 2005, and 31 December, 2015. YEK support does not take the size of the power plant into account and there is no support for the heat production.

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What is GIZ doing on biogas in Turkey?

German international cooperation with Turkey dates from the 1960s. The Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Turkey signed an agreement on technical cooperation in 1970. The European Union decided to award Turkey the status of candidate country in 1999. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit(GIZ) GmbH has maintained an office in Ankara since 1998; it currently has ten staff. GIZ and the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation have been carrying out a biogas project titled ”Resource-efficient and climatefriendly use of animal waste for biogas production in Turkey“ (short: Turkish-German biogas project). The Turkish-German biogas project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Natural Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), enforced by the GIZ within the scope of a Cooperation Agreement, and signed between the Turkish Republic and

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Table 3: Feed-in tariffs in Turkey Type of power plant

Feed-in tariff

Maximum local production premium

Maximum possible tariff

Hydroelectric

$7.3 cent/kWh

$2.3 cent/kWh

$9.6 cent/kWh

Wind

$7.3 cent/kWh

$3.7 cent/kWh

$11 cent/kWh

Geothermal

$10.5 cent/kWh

$2.7 cent/kWh

$13.2 cent/kWh

Biomass (including landfill)

$13.3 cent/kWh

$5.6 cent/kWh

$18.9 cent/kWh

Solar photovoltaic

$13.3 cent/kWh

$6.7 cent/kWh

$20 cent/kWh

Concentrating Solar

$13.3 cent/kWh

$9.2 cent/kWh

$22.5 cent/kWh

ffStrengthening the dialogue between administration, private sector, academics and NGOs ffAssistance for the establishment of a Biogas Technology & Information Centre (BIC) ffSupporting decision makers to create suitable framework conditions for biogas investments ffSupport towards a holistic biogas approach ffTechnical advice for pilot biogas plants

Federal Republic of Germany in the context of the International Climate Initiative (ICI).

The partner and beneficiary of the project is the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation (MoEU). The overall objective of the project is to develop a concept for the sustainable production of biogas from agricultural residues (e.g. cattle manure) and

organic wastes (e.g. from the agro industry), to introduce organic fertiliser, and as a result, to reduce carbon emissions.

The strategy of the Turkish-German Biogas Project is based on three components: ffContributing to national framework conditions for biogas

ffElaboration of a holistic business concept for pilot biogas plants ffIntroducing digestates as organic fertilisers in arable farming ffDeveloping capacities on national and local level ffTraining and advisory services for political decision makers, investors, finance and agricultural actors ffTransfer of know-how and technology ffRaising public awareness

Theoretical biogas potential [PJ/year] 2%

Concluding Remarks

3% Agriculture - livestock Agriculture Residues 19%

Energy crops Agro-Industrial Residues Municipal Waste

38%

38%

Technical biogas potential [PJ/year] 5% 7%

Agriculture - livestock

The biogas potential of biomass, especially of an agricultural activities origin is significantly high. Biogas investments will not only help to remedy the energy deficiency of the country, but also help to solve environmental problems associated with these organic wastes.

The calculated technical biogas potential of organic residues is around 118-221 PJ/year (without/with energy crops and straw) and can cover 6-12% of the total electricity production in Turkey. All together, the share of RES for electricity production in Turkey could reach up to 23-44%. Incentives should be improved in order to attract both local and international investors. Incentives for heat production should also be provided. Fertiliser value of the digestate should be promoted with related legislations as in Europe.

Agriculture Residues Energy crops 38%

Agro-Industrial Residues

Author

Municipal Waste

Prof. Dr. Nuri Azbar Ege University Izmir

34%

Engineering Faculty 16%

Department of Bioengineering Bornova 35100 Izmir/Turkey e-mail: nuri.azbar@ege.edu.tr

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Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Energy Garden with German know-how

The so-called ”Energy Garden“ in Richmond.

It consists of a biogas facility, composting plant and soil production.

In North America, the fermentation of organic wastes is a new field. Now, however, a dry fermentation pilot plant has started operation in the “Harvest Energy Garden” near Vancouver. The installation works using the dual-stage Gicon process.

By Christian Dany

W

ith our installation in Richmond, British Columbia, we are developing a new model for the management of organic wastes in North America,” Paul Sellew from Harvest Power Incorporation said. Sellew is the founder of the company which, since 2008, has followed the vision of obtaining the bestpossible usage from the 500 million tonnes of organic materials which are produced in Canada and the USA annually. ”25 years ago there were only 300 composting units, nowadays there are 5,000,” the former CEO and current chairman of the company’s supervisory board said.

15 or 20 years ago, leaves, garden and woodland cuttings were either put onto the tip or in illegal dumps - nowadays, in contrast, they are an important raw material for the composting plants. ”Even so, around 95% of food waste are still disposed of on tips or in waste incineration plants. It is now at the stage garden waste used to be at,” Mr Sellew believes. ”This is where I get my inspiration from. I’m

22

still an optimist in the long run”. Harvest Power wants to generate energy from waste food, including domestic organic waste and catering waste, and to return the nutrients to the cycle of nature. To do this, the company’s first biogas plant was set up at the composting works in Richmond, near Vancouver, where more than 250 tons of organic waste are processed each year. The plant, which works using the dual-stage Gicon process, was formally commissioned last autumn.

Major installation in North America Foodstuff wastes and garden cuttings are converted into renewable energy, highquality compost and fertiliser in the ”Harvest Energy Garden“. Richmond is one of the first and, up to now, the largest solids fermentation installation in North America. The international audit company KPMG placed the facility among the top 100 infrastructure projects worldwide during 2012.

The dual-stage dry fermenting process was managed to market readiness by Gicon − ac-

ronym of the Großmann Ingenieur Consult GmbH from Dresden − together with BTU Cottbus and further partners. In 2009, a similar plant with 350 kWel was built on the basis of agricultural silage in Cottbus. ”We got to know Harvest Power during a biocycle conference in the USA in 2009,” Sebastian Otto, manager of Gicon’s dry fermentation section said. At the time, Harvest Power was looking for a German technology supplier. ”They saw the benefits of the dual-stage process and therefore preferred us,” Mr Otto said, and stated another important point: ”We are also ready to offer our process without building it ourselves.” Gicon is an engineering company which plans and implements its projects before putting the construction out to tender. “Our competitors, in contrast, are all plant constructors who obviously want to build the installation themselves.”

Harvest Power, however, considered it of value to extend its technical know-how in North America. In September 2010, the license agreement, engineering framework contract and project-specific engineering

Photos: Gicon

a d a n a C

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

The fermenters are covered with infill blocks which make them into a fixed bed reactor.

Garage-shaped box fermenters in which the solids are fermented.

”There was no know-how available in the biogas sector in North America. We therefore had to issue our invitations to tender in considerable detail” Jochen Springer

slow-running cutter for pretreatment, and this homogenises the input organic waste and opens any plastic sacks which may be present. The plastic parts are then sieved out during post-rotting,” Mr Otto explained.

The installation produces around 60 m3 of methane out of each tonne of waste biomass, which results in an electrical capacity of around 770 kW. 1 MW of electrical capacity is already installed. After conclusion of the aerobic post-composting, around 17,000 tonnes of compost will be produced every year.

contract for the Richmond project were conGermany’s largest private biogas research cluded. At the same time a new company, plant in its technological centre in Cottbus.

Gicon Engineering North America GmbH, The planned processing capacity for the was founded in order to carry out projects Richmond installation is around 30,000 t per with Harvest Power and other clients in the year, which can be extended up to 40,000 t USA and Canada. if required.

From garage fermenter to fullThe invitation to tender was a major chalHalf of the charge material consists of sepabody container lenge for the German company as Jochen rated, collected organic waste with catering During the dual-stage Gicon process, hySpringer, manager of the biogas facility secwastes, the other half of garden cuttings and drolysis and methanation are separated both tor at Gicon, explains: “There was no knowgarden waste. ”We are using a shredder with how available in the biogas sector in North America. We Schematic presentation of the Gicon process therefore had to issue our invitations to tender in considerable hydrolysis gas (Biogas) detail.” The technical rules and Percolation regulations are similar to those Percolation return Biogas in Europe. In North America, 70 - 80 % CH4 standards and norms are pubControl or regulation of lished by the CSA (Canadian mehane production Standards Association) in Canada and the UL (Underwriters Hydrolysate Laboratories) in the USA. ”HowPercolation Packing ever, there was no CSA standard for some individual products.

Methane reactors Here we had to carry out some modifications. There was even no inexpensive, standardised protective concrete lacquer, for Return feed Liquid waste Several percolators in Percolate = hydrolysate example. In this case we had to product garage process airfreight containers out to North America.”

Solid waste product Hydrolysate reservoir In order to draw up specific foreFining basin for composting - intermediate storage casts for the gas yield, wastes Sludge from Canadian installations were Waste water.liquid fertiliser reproduced. Gicon operates

23

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Harvest`s Energy Garden and Composting Facility Completing the Organic Loop in the Metro Vancouver Region, BC

SITE Highlights – Richmond, BC

Material Flow

ff Innovation: Pioneering the largest commercialscale high solids anaerobic digester in North America

1. Scale Office

ff Sustainable Design: Advanced equipment and layout maximizes efficiency ff Community Education: Award-winning architects designed a Visitors' Centre. Visit virtually! harvestpower.com/energygarden

Trucks are weighed as they enter and exit.

2. Green Waste Tip Area

Brush, leaves and yard trimmings are tipped, mixed and loaded into compost cells.

3. Food Waste Receiving Hall

High-calorie food scraps are tipped in an enclosed building, shredded, mixed, and loaded into tunnels.

4. Hydrolysis Tunnels

Once a tunnel is filled the door is shut tight to create a gas-tight enviroment. A liquid sprinkled onto the materials biochemically degrades the carbohydrates and fats into organic acids called hydrolysate. After 2-3 weeks the digestate is removed and composted.

5. Methane Digesters

The hydrolysate, stored in buffer tanks, is fed into methane digesters where naturally-occuring bacteria convert the organic compounds in the liquid into biogas.

spatially and chronologically. To do this, garage fermenters are operated in batch mode parallel to a downstream solid bed reactor. ”The optimum environmental conditions for the microorganisms involved in the process vary, which limits the material turnover. Bacteria which form methane proliferate very slowly. For this reason, conventional digestion tanks were designed with very large dimensions since, on top of this, a proportion of the bacteria is always discharged with the used materials. Furthermore, energy-intensive and breakdown-prone mixing systems are necessary,” Mr Otto explained whilst describing the Gicon process.

The first stage takes place in the garage fermenters. These are operated as hydrolysis during an 18-day cycle, and gas yield is secondary during the process. The percolate then enters the wet fermentation highperformance fermenters from the garage fermenters. Here, the main process is methane extraction, which represents the second stage. Containers which are always below the liquid level ensure that nothing needs to be re-vaccinated because microorganisms are captured. The liquid is transported through a circuit.

Since no fermentation product returns, the hydrolysis reactors can be relatively small,

24

6. Gas Clean-Up and Clean Energy Generation

Biogas containing 65%-80% methane is cleaned up and processed through a combined heat-and-power (CHP) unit. Clean, local electricity is fed onto the grid and the heat is used to warm the system.

7. Composting

Green waste (food scraps and yard trimmings) is composted in covered aerated static piles.

8. Biofilters

Air pulled from the compost cells gets filtered.

9. Curing Windrows

The compost is curred to maturity.

10. High Quality Soil Products

Nutrient-rich compost and compost-based soil blends are returned to local farms, gardens and landscapes. The organic loop of energy and nutrients continues.

which Mr Otto considered to be one of the many specific benefits. The Gicon process is also suitable for extending existing biogas facilities because the percolate from the first stage can also be used as a co-fermenter.

According to Mr Otto: ”Prospectively sewage works, for example, can extend their intake spectrum of organic wastes and therefore become disposal centres for both wastewater and biological wastes.” The fermentation products mostly occur in stackable form and can be treated easily in downstream composting works which avoids problems with the spreading areas.

The facility in Richmond near Vancouver processes the organic and garden waste of the largest metropolitan region in West Canada with 2.3 million inhabitants. It is refinanced primarily by intake fees and remuneration for the power fed into the public power grid.

There is, however, no special increased infeed tariff. The facility building is heated using the waste heat.

raw materials for parks and farms in the area and at the same time helping to improve ecological systems − it’s great to have a company like Harvest Power here because they have a whole bundle of solutions for the environmental and political challenges faced by a commune.”

Gicon Engineering North America GmbH also wants to extend its business: ”We are on the shortlist for a project in Canada and another one in California,” Mr Otto revealed.

That means that Gicon is one of the few candidates on a reduced list. On top of this Gicon Bioenergie GmbH, which also carries out plant engineering on request, is active in Europe, China and Brazil. A new Gicon facility is currently being planned in Anyang, China. It is intended to treat around 6,000 t from a mixture of catering waste, liquid manure, silage and agricultural wastes and to create around 150 kW of electrical energy thereby.

Solutions for communal waste problems

Author

Sadhu Johnston, Deputy City Manager, City of Vancouver, is extremely impressed: ”Creating energy from organic waste material flows, saving greenhouse gases, producing

Freelance journalist

Christian Dany Gablonzer Str. 21 ∙ 86807 Buchloe Phone: 0049 82 41/91 14 03 e-mail: christian.dany@web.de

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Biogas potentials in Costa Rica the agro-industry Costa Rica, the small Central American country with a population of 5 million, has set itself an ambitious goal: by 2021 it wants to be the world’s first carbon-neutral economy. Besides afforestation and reforestation, the country will have to implement a multitude of measures in the energy sector, industry, agriculture and transportation to be able to achieve this goal. In the meanwhile, the national energy demand is increasing by around 5% per year and new generation capacities have to be built up in order to avoid future supply shortages.

By Irene Cañas and Carola Griebenow

S

ince May 2010, the German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in cooperation with the Central American System of Integration (SICA) has been implementing a regional Program for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency in Central America. Within the first period from 2010 to 2013, the countries the program focused on were Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras. Since 2014 the program has been working in all seven countries on the isthmus.

The main objective is to increase renewable energies and energy efficiency in the region. With tightly focused political advisory of the local governmental institutions, the program aims to improve framework conditions for the generation and commercialisation of renewable electricity and the implementation of energy efficiency.

In the field of financing renewables and energy efficiency, the program is cooperating closely with the German Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), national development banks and international financing institutions with suitable support programs. Another focus area of the program is the cooperation with private sector companies in order to tap the large potentials in industry and commerce and to enhance the investment into economically attractive opportunities for sustainable technologies.

Cooperation with the Costa Rican Institute for Electricity (ICE) The national monopoly ”Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad“ (ICE) has been supplying the country with electricity for more than 60 years. Despite some criticism on its unique market position, the company sticks out with at least two numbers in the Central American region: an electrification rate of more than 99%, as well as a share of renewable energies of almost 90% of the total electricity supply. The electricity supply is mainly hydro-power based, but wind and geothermal energy also play an important

role. The country’s electricity tariffs, despite their increase in the last years, remain considerably low, especially for industrial and commercial clients.

However, a further expansion of the conventional renewable generation sources is limited in Costa Rica. Potential new sites for large hydro-electric plants are mostly located within restricted areas, since one quarter of the country’s total area is environmentally protected. This fact also limits the development of new geothermal plants, since drilling is strictly prohibited within these areas. Due to a lack of rain in the past years, the almost sole dependence on water resources for electricity supply has further forced the country to make an increased use of fossil fuel-based generation.

The development of small decentralised generation capacities, such as photovoltaic and low enthalpy geothermal energy, as well as the use of biomass offer an attractive alternative. Besides biomass-based cogeneration in the sugar cane industry, the country’s large biomass and biogas potentials in the agriculture and agro-industry remain unused.

Workers of the slaughterhouse and pig farming company.

25

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

The oranges are delivered with trucks to the fruit juice factory.

Quality control of the delivered oranges.

ICE and GIZ set up six small biogas plants In order to achieve the goal of a carbon-neutral electricity supply, Costa Rica will have to focus on a decentralised electricity generation with alternative energy sources, such as biogas, biomass, solar energy and low temperature geothermal energy. Within ICE, a company of more than 10,000 employees, a small team is now working on the development of medium-sized biogas plants in the agroindustry. Part of the cooperation agreement between GIZ and ICE is to strengthen this unit. Within the last years, the biogas department has developed six small biogas plants with electricity generation in several dairy and piggery companies. ”We tried out a lot, gathered information on the internet, received some e-mail support by German project developers,” agro-engineer Caroline Hernandez says. ”Some of our first projects didn’t work straightaway. We had difficulties with the gas purification as well, since the filter systems available in Costa Rica are expensive and have to be changed quite often. But now we are using air injection for gas cleaning, thanks to a hint by our German consult-

Electricity price in US-Dollar differentiating of the consumption USDN

Households

Other consumers

Large scale consumers, medium voltage

Consumption/month

$/kWh

$/kW

Up to 200 kWh

$0.145

$0

Up to 300 kWh

$0.201

$0

Over 300 kWh

$0.201

$0

Up to 3,000 kWh

$0.218

$0

Over 3,000 kWh

$0.137

$19.61

Peakload

$0.112

$18.73

Offpeak

$0.051

$13.26

Night time

$0.036

$8.64

Source: ARESEP 2014 (conversion rate: 1$:544 colones)

26

ant. The market for biogas equipment in Costa Rica is very small and many of the existing advanced technologies are simply not available here. Information material in Spanish is scarce, so we are happy that the German colleagues provide us with updated material.”

The size of the biogas plants initially installed by ICE ranges from 20 to 60 kW electrical capacity. ”Around 20 of these projects are now under development,” the young engineer reports. Together with the team of the German GIZ, ICE is now developing the first large-scale biogas plants in Costa Rica in different industries. Besides the renewable electricity generation, the substitution of heavy fuel oil for process heat is attractive to many companies.

In order to train their team on the development of larger projects, eight bankable feasibility studies have been elaborated by ICE-staff with the support of an experienced German biogas expert. As a next step, the team is currently supporting the selected companies with the project implementation together with GIZ. ”The willingness of these private sector companies to invest is of course crucial to the success of our intervention, but since we chose economically attractive solutions, we are observing a very large engagement of these firms. It seems that in some cases, biogas generation was really something they were actually looking for. They were just a little reluctant since they do not have experienced staff,” the Director of the GIZ Program explains.

Agricultural biogas potentials Despite the increasing importance of tourism, the Costa Rican economy is still strongly based on agricultural products. The country has become the world’s largest exporter of pineapples and is among the world’s top five producers of bananas. The agricultural business employs around 12% of the working population. According to research of the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment and Energy, the biogas and biomass energy potential of agricultural waste alone is around 630 MW electrical capacity. This would be

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Fruit juice factory in the northern area of Costa Rica.

Orange peels.

around 40% of the new generation capacity to be installed up to 2024. GIZ estimates that the potential is even higher, depending on the employed technologies, as well as the use of new substrates for fermentation.

A Costa Rican family-owned company is one of the world’s leading producers of orange and pineapple juice concentrate. The company, which is located in San Carlos, supplies well-known customers of the international bever-

age industry. The cultivation and processing of more than 300,000 tons of pineapple and orange per year directly employs around 1,000 people in an economically weak region of the country, and generates many indirect employment opportunities. Due to a favourable development of the demand, the production is planned to be increased within the following years. This is the right motivation for the company to consider new energetic solutions for the

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English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Workers installing the cement structure of the digester.

production. The current demand of the company totals more than 3 million US-dollars annually. Additionally, more than double this amount is spent on the purchase of oil and diesel, which are mostly used for the proper disposal of more than 100,000 tons of orange zest per year. By using large amounts of energy, the orange waste is dried and processed into pellets, which are delivered to animal feed producers and used as a dietary supplement. ”The current disposal process of our waste products is economically unattractive, but it has so far been our best option to get rid of the organic waste in an environmentally friendly way,” Evelio, a manager of the company declares. ”As soon as we achieve a further increase of our production we will also face problems with finding acceptors for our pellets. A second cost-intense process is the aerobic treatment of our wastewater, which has a high organic content. So we are really looking forward to finding a feasible solution for biogas production based on our waste.”

Together with GIZ and ICE, as well as a German project developer, the company is currently working on the use of orange zest for biogas production.

Pig farming and slaughterhouse company generates 80% of its own electricity demand with biogas

Workers installing the membrane of the digester.

A pig farming and slaughterhouse company in Cartago, the central region of Costa Rica, raises almost 30,000 pigs a year and slaughters around 200 animals per day.

The treatment of the manure and slaughter waste has been an environmental problem for many years. The wastewater treatment, which has been done in open lagoons, was insufficient to avoid bad odours in the neighbouring villages, and the methane emissions escaped into the atmosphere.

In 2011, ICE and GIZ decided to provide a feasibility study for the company in order to create a pilot project for the energetic use of agricultural waste on an industrial

Agricultural Production above 100.000 tons/year 2008-2012 in metric tons 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

3,596,724

3,635,409

3,734,732

3,418,193

4,005,752

Oil Palm

863,200

897,750

985,800

1,050,000

1,111,250

Coffee

589,257

481,067

511,428

526,753

658,346

Orange

278,000

277,488

252,000

159,406

280,000

Pineapple

1,667,530

1,682,043

1,976,755

2,268,956

2,484,729

Banana

1,886,767

1,588,742

1,844,544

1,937,122

1,893,019

Melon

209,110

198,565

198,921

160,810

132,017

Rice

221,474

259,656

267,772

278,975

214,279

93,007

178,927

130,150

195,100

195,375

Sugar Cane

Manioc

Source: SEPSA 2013

28

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

scale. The feasibility study, elaborated with the support of a German biogas expert, was concluded in 2012 and showed an economically attractive solution for the treatment of the company’s solid organic waste. The investment into a biogas project would not only reduce local environmental impacts and methane emissions, but also contribute to the reduction of the monthly electricity bill of the company. The lagoon type digester, which was finally installed in September 2013 generates around 1,600 m³ of biogas per day. However, due to some difficulties with the chemical composition of the substrate, the envisaged production level was only reached at the end of the year.

The 250 kW electricity generator is operated in the daytime in order to supply the company with electricity during the expensive peak load period and is able to cover around 80% of the company’s own demand.

Training of local laboratories In the scope of assessing the selected agro-industrial companies it became clear, that some of the laboratory analyses required during project development and project implementation cannot be conducted by Costa Rican laboratories yet, due to a lack of specific equipment and know-how. The waste sludge of a large dairy cooperative which produces milk, yogurt and cheese for several Central American countries, was sent to a German laboratory to define the biogas potential of the sludge.

Without the support of the technical cooperation, this step in the project development would have posed an additional barrier. In order to strengthen local capacities, the Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency Program of the German cooperation therefore decided to capacitate at least two Costa Rican University laboratories on conducting biogas and substrate analysis in 2014. The availability of the service will also facilitate the development of biogas projects in other countries of the region.

Belt Dryer

Biogas plant with inflated digesters and a CHP from 2G in Germany.

Contact Manfred Häbig Director Program for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency in Central America GIZ El Salvador e-mail: manfred.haebig@giz.de Irene Cañas Coordinator Costa Rica and Panama Program for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency in Central America GIZ Costa Rica e-mail: irene.canas@giz.de Carola Griebnow GIZ e-mail: carola.griebenow@giz.de

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English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Biogas, yet another challenge Argentina

I

Argentina is a country full of challenges. While it is true that, energetically speaking, the challenge is global, the energy matrix in Argentina depends to 87% on fossil fuels (mainly oil and gas). Fossil than two decades, widely exceeding the 71% of the regional matrix, and the 81% of the global average. Therefore the challenge is even bigger in Argentina than in the rest of the world.

By Ileana Gabriela Pacher, Stefan Budzinski and María Alejandra Barlatey

n 1992, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported in the “Processes for Sustainable Biogas Development”-bulletin that although biogas technology had been used in Argentina for decades, its use was limited to the decontamination of organic waste or effluents with little or no use for the production of biogas. This bulletin also reported 50 operative units at that time. Those facilities, that operate anaerobic digesters around the country, used biogas mostly for auto-consumption as heating, electricity, and cooking gas, helping reduce their costs and solve some of their contaminating waste problems.

The energy situation in the country had a turning point in 2010, with the import of fossil fuels exceeding the exports. Today, the security of the electricity supply is at risk, proof of this are the blackouts suffered in December and January 2013/2014 due to the collapse of

30

the system with 31.4 GW electrical power. Within this energy scenario, renewables are in a clear position of superiority over any other option: the country has a huge potential of renewable resources, like the surface used for agricultural crops in Argentina (soy, wheat, corn, sunflower, sorghum, barley) in an order of 31.7 million hectares. On what represents the same area as the complete surface of Germany, there are 50 million cattle, 4.7 million pigs and 3.1 million tons of accessible organic waste.

The technology is developed and available at a competitive price, international technical aid is available.

Last but not least, there is also an urgent need to join the global trend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Nowadays, thanks to the efforts of public institutions and private companies, there are more than 200 biogas plants operating in Argentina.

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Experimental biogas plant, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza (UN-CUYO), Argentina

Grafical overview Biogasplant UN-CUYO

Substrates

Overview of the biogasplant

ff Up to 20 kg/day

ff One cylindrical digester with 1,3m3 volume, INOX AISI-304

ff Continuous and discontinuesfeeding mode

ff 2 kW diagonal mixer unit

Biogas ff 16 m3 flexible PVCgasholder ff Online Flow meter

ff Investigation chamber 84 l ff Biogas heating unit thermal power = 10 kW ff Biogas compressor 25 mbar; Flow 8 m3/h ff Emergency-flare 2 m3/ h

ff Online Peltierbiogas dryer

Modern times The “Yanquetruz” pig farm in Juan llerena, Province San Luis, is a good example of that. The industrial biogas plant is in the start-up and stabilisation phase. The anaerobic digester is fed with a combination of two locally available substrates: 150 m3/day of swine slurry and 50 tons per day of maize/sorghum forage. The biogas production is 12,887 m3/day and 8,000 MWh per year.

The biogas is conducted to a Heat and Power Plant (CHPP) generating 1.5 MW electrical power. This is the first project to be launched in Argentina using German technology with heating, stirring and controlled parameters. The operating system of the biogas plant is fully automated, the electricity produced is used for self-consumption, and the excess is added to the power grid. Integral use of the energy is achieved using thermal energy for heating the farm and biogas plant.

Both installed and projected biogas plants have to face the same problems all around the country: ffan incomplete legal and regulatory framework, especially related to the plant’s effluent ffuncertainty from potential changes in the regulatory and tariff framework

31

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Pig farm YANQUETRUZ, 18.500 animals, San Luís,

Overview of the biogas plant ff Two circular primary concrete digester with 3619 m3 each one ff 2 Circular concrete/HDPE-membrane digesters with 2897 m3 each one ff Two biogas generators CATERPILLAR 756 kW, Total electrical power = 1,53 MW ff Emergency-flare 800 m3/h

Biogasproduction

Substrates

ff 12.887 m3/day

ff Swine slurry: 150 m3/day

ffa poorly developed sector, few industrial biogas plants generating for the national grid

ff 8.000 MW/year

ff Forage Maize / Sorghum: 50 ton/day

ffgreat diversity of production units fffew projects that demonstrate the use of the technology, little experience in the operation and maintenance ffdifficulties to import parts and components ffdifficulty to access financing on terms of time and cost ffneed to train human resources ffabsence of specialised laboratories for substrates characterisation, certification and analysis of the potential of fertilisers, troubleshooting, and monitoring the biological process.

Although a huge effort has been made to generate interest and confidence in anaerobic digestion plants, and although there has never been a more appropriate moment for the development of this technology, Argentina

32

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

urgently needs clear and effective policies to lead the country back to energy self-sufficiency.

Investigation and education The project is a collaboration between the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI), the German Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM) and the German Embassy in Buenos Aires. The scientists and experts explore the best ways in which the accumulating biomass in Mendoza can be used for the production of biogas. The experiments also generate biogas for later corrosion resistance of materials in a special impact chamber but also for the generation of energy with waste products from the own factory, agricultural food products from the local markets, wines, champagne, nectar, bread and quince fruit jams, tomato sauces, olive oil, among others.

Biogas is produced from alternative and renewable raw materials, the gain for the energy supply of Argentina and for the protection of the global climate. The first contact of the students with new technologies, the complex interactuation of the biological system with the process parameters and feeding conditions are only a few terms from the education program in Mendoza.

The experimental scientific biogas plant for investigation and capacity building, which was sponsored by the German Embassy and constructed in the province of Mendoza has been awarded with a price of the “Universidad de Congreso” on June 5, 2013. The project received the award for “commitment to environmental protection and technical innovation in 2013” at a ceremony to mark the World Environment Day.

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Authors Ileana Gabriela Pacher Freelance journalist Liverpool, Great Britain e-mail: ipacher@gmail.com

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S A G O I B K AD& ham

Stefan Budzinski Integrated Expert CIM/GIZ, Germany

U

INTI (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial)

irming B , y l u J 2-3 061 Booth H

Buenos Aires, Argentina e-mail: stefan.budzinski@cimonline.de María Alejandra Barlatey Coordination national Biogas program INTI INTI (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial) Concepción del Uruguay, Argentina e-mail: barlatey@inti.gob.ar Photos and graphics: Stefan Budzinski María Alejandra Barlatey José Nicolás Martín Tecnored Consultores S.A www.tecnoredconsultores.com.ar/

W W W.HAFFMANS.NL 33

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

A promising market for biogas l i z a BR As one of the world’s ten largest economies and a leading producer of agricultural products, Brazil presents a huge potential for biogas technologies.

By Jens Giersdorf and Victor Bustani Valente

T

he country’s demand for energy has increased significantly in the last few years. In 2013 alone, around 100 new power plants with a total capacity of 6 GW were installed, an increase of 5% in the electrical matrix. A considerable part of the newly installed capacity is based on biomass and wind energy. This development illustrates the growing importance of alternative and decentralized renewable energies in a country that is predominantly depending on large hydropower plants.

Brazil’s demand for gas is also increasing, and so are the prices. In the beginning of 2014, total gas imports achieved a historical record of almost 50 Mm3/day (70% of the country’s total demand). Two thirds of its gas imports come from Bolivia, and the balance is LNG bought at high prices on the spot market. The infrastructure for the gas distribution is based on few pipelines that connect the state capitals along the coast, and the consumption is concentrated in the Southeastern region. Even with the perspective of an increase in the internal production in the next years, alternative solutions, such as biomethane plants, are important to supply local markets not connected to the grid.

The enormous amount of residues produced in agricultural and urban areas (waste and waste water) offers enough feedstock for a biogas market to be established.

34

Understanding how these sectors are organised and are currently developing is essential for those wanting to participate in this market.

Large-scale biogas production from agricultural residues As one of the leading agricultural producers and exporters, Brazil certainly represents a huge potential for the production of biogas from agricultural residues. In the early 1980s, more than 2,500 covered lagoon digesters for the treatment of liquid swine manure had already been installed, mostly in Southern Brazil. But due to a lack of know-how and maintenance only a few are still running. With such negative experiences, Brazilian agribusiness companies and cooperatives investing in new biogas projects are aware of the need for innovative technologies and capacity building. Often working in cooperation with German technology providers and consultants, these companies are currently proving the technical and economic viability of large-scale biogas plants in agricultural areas.

In the state of Santa Catarina, a major swine producer in Brazil with 7.5 million animals, the biogas potential could supply the state’s total demand for natural gas of ca. 1.85 Mm3/day. In order to meet the growing demand for technical and scientific advisory services for the biogas plants

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

to be built, the reputed Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation EMBRAPA installed a biogas laboratory located in this state last year.

Gross estimates also show that in the state of São Paulo biomethane produced only from residues such as vinasses and press cake − from the sugar and ethanol industries − could alone substitute 35% of the natural gas consumption in Brazil’s most industrialised and most populous state . Considering this potential, the state implemented a program that aims at establishing a minimum content of biomethane in the gas grid.

Energetic use of waste water: a new paradigm for a growing sector Brazil still has a significant deficit of waste water treatment, with only 40% of the sewage generated being properly treated. Nevertheless, the government, and more recently the private sector, have been investing heavily in this sector (around 10 billion euros since 2007) in order to guarantee treatment coverage for its whole population.

Unlike in most European countries, Brazil’s waste water treatment is usually based on anaerobic digestion. The warm climate favours the anaerobic treatment, which offers considerably lower operational costs compared to aerobic systems. The most common technology are the so-called upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) systems, which also produce biogas. However, it is still not common in Brazil to use this gas product as an energy source. As of 2013, there were only three waste water plants generating electricity, two of them from sludge digestion, and a few others that use the biogas only to dry sludge. The water and waste water enterprises, respon-

sible for the municipalities’ water and waste water provision, consume almost 3% of all the electricity generated in the country. For such companies, electricity represents the second highest operational cost, only falling behind the labour expenses. At the waste water plant level, the cost with sludge disposal is also significant. Since the implementation of the National Solid Waste Policy in 2010, the cost has been expected to rise even more, considering it will not be possible for many companies to send the sludge to landfills.

UASB reactor from a waste water treatment plant supported by PROBIOGAS in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil.

Grid-connected biogas plants in operation and in licensing in Brazil Biogas Plants in Operation Substrate

Nº of plants

Installed capacity (MW)

7

77

Wastewater

3

4

Manure

10

2

Food Industry

2

0,9

Total

22

84

Landfill gas

Biogas Plants in Licensing Substrate

Nº of plants

Installed capacity (MW)

Landfill gas

4

68

Wastewater

1

2,6

Food Industry

1

0,04

Sugar cane Residues

2

15,8

Total

8

86

(Adapted from ANEEL, 2014)

35

English Issue

Left: Brazilian delegation visiting dry-fermentation plant VIVO in Warngau, Germany.

Right: Brazilian delegation visiting Pohlsche Heide’s waste disposal centre in Germany.

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

In this growth scenario, the use of biogas for thermal and electricity generation becomes strategic for reducing costs, lowering the impact of new waste water plants in the grid, and contributing to the diversification and decentralisation of energy generation.

Producing biogas from solid waste Similarly to the wastewater sector, a window of opportunity for biogas was opened in 2010 with the approval of the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy. Since then, more

Event tip In cooperation with the German-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (AHK), and on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) GmbH will hold the German-Brazilian Biogas Forum on 3 and 4 September 2014 in São Paulo. Companies working in the biogas sector, both from Germany and Brazil, will have the opportunity to establish contact and build new partnerships. More information can be found on www.diadaindustria.eco.br

German climate technology initiative Since 2013, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), has ben coordinating a project in Brazil within the framework of the Deutsche Klimatechnologie-Initiative (DKTI). The PROBIOGAS project aims to lower GHG emissions by boosting biogas use and supporting clean technologies in this field. The political counterpart of PROBIOGAS is the Brazilian Ministry of Cities. The project receives financial support from the German Development Bank (KfW).

36

than 5,000 municipalities in the country have been struggling to find adequate solutions for a sustainable waste treatment. The policy forbids the disposal of untreated residues at landfills from August 2014, and this has led to a technological race, with several companies offering different solutions.

In 2011, there were almost 4,000 open dumpsites, 555 landfills, and only 38 composting plants in Brazil. This shows the huge gap between the objectives established by the National Solid Waste Policy and the reality of the sector on the municipal level. On the other hand, the high treatment (35 €/ton) and transport costs of municipal solid waste due to the lack of landfill capacities and efficient solid waste management also invite more sustainable solutions. The first mechanical-biological treatment plants with an anaerobic digestion and composting of the organic fraction are being installed in the state of São Paulo.

Other projects will be implemented in the next years.

A more favorable context to biogas Brazil’s many opportunities will make it increasingly attractive to technology providers in the near future. But in order to take the biogas market to the next level, more efforts by the private and public sector are needed. Last year, two Brazilian biogas associations were founded.

Considering the success of other renewable energy associations, the fact that the biogas sector now has an official representation is important for the growth and stability of this market.

In addition to that, some important regulations have been implemented in the last years, creating a more favourable framework for biogas. The Net Metering resolution 482/2012 of Brazil’s National Electricity Regulation Agency (ANEEL) determines the grid connection and electricity compensation of renewable energy from plants with a maximum installed capacity of 1 MWel. In 2012, ANEEL also published a call for R&D projects on electricity generation from biogas and 16 projects were selected − in which more than 100 million euros should be invested.

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Even though the few biogas plants already existing are currently producing electricity, the use of biogas as a substitute for natural gas seems to be more promising in large-scale plants. Some initiatives for the use of biomethane are being developed by private enterprises and supported by the state gas distribution companies.

This growing interest has exposed the need for a stronger regulation of the biomethane distribution and commercialisation. The Brazilian National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) has announced it is working on a specification to be published by the end of 2014. Other fiscal incentives have been implemented as well. In São Paulo, the equipments necessary for the treatment and electricity generation from biogas were exempted from the state value added tax (ICMS), which represents 18% of the product value.

Challenges and perspectives Even though there have been undeniable advancements, much work is still needed in the sector. The minimum content of biomethane in the São Paulo state gas grid is yet to be defined, and that does not create an obligation for the gas distribution companies to inject biomethane in the grid. Also, the compensation system that came into force with the Net Metering resolution still fails to fully promote decentralised electricity production from biogas, since many biogas sites do not have a significant electrical consumption.

Beyond that, other technological, economical, infrastructural and professional capacity challenges are inevitably present in a country with continental dimensions and large regional differences − including a broad variety of different substrates, climate conditions and local markets. German expertise, well recognised in the country, will contribute to the development of the promising biogas market in Brazil and is already doing so now.

The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or the opinion of the GIZ.

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Authors Wolfgang Roller PROBIOGAS Project Coordinator e-mail: wolfgang.roller@giz.de Victor Bustani Valente Component Coordinator - Wastewater e-mail: victor.valente@giz.de Jens Giersdorf Component Coordinator - Solid Waste e-mail: jens.giersdorf@giz.de Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH SCN Quadra 01, Bloco C, Sala 1501 Ed. Brasília Trade Center 70.711-902 Brasília-DF, Brazil

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37

Photo: Nipaporn Asawaphat

Survey of a community in the province of Khon Kaen regarding communal business models

Thailand

Additional 3,000 MW from energy plants by 2021

An ambitious subsidy program passed by the Thai government is intended to promote the extension of biogas capacities − especially those based on Napier grass. Local companies and scientific establishments, however, have hardly any experience with the fermentation of substrates on this basis and are searching for experience from Germany. The plate-tank debate is not being carried out on the Mekong yet.

By Gisa Holzhausen, Supalerk Kanasook and Max Schönfisch

I

n Germany, energy plants are only to be used in a subsidiary manner as a basis for biogas production within the new German government coalition contract, but the Thai government will be placing its entire focus on this in the future. With the Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP), Thailand has already set itself the ambitious objective of covering 25% of its energy consumption with renewable energies by 2021.

In July 2013, the National Energy Policy Council actually raised the extension objectives for biogas contained in the plan − from an installed capacity of 600 MW to 3,600 MW by 2021. The additional capacity is to be created on the basis of mono-fermented energy plants. In Thailand, safety and sociopolitical considerations play a considerable role in the decision for biogas. Currently,

38

power is generated from natural gas by up to 64%, which currently originates from inland production by up to 74% (renewable energies, including major hydroelectric power: 6.9%).

The government under the current temporary prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra aims to cover the country’s increasing energy requirements in the future, and also to prevent an increasing dependency on natural gas imports by producing nationally-sourced biogas. [The Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecasts an annual growth rate of around 2.3% for final energy consumption.]

At the same time, the government wishes to promote local value creation and to open up additional income sources for farmers and village cooperatives with the cultivation and sales of energy plants. In addition to its ap-

plication in power generation, biogas is to be used as a replacement fuel in natural gas vehicles, especially in remote rural areas not connected to the gas network. For this purpose, 1,200 t of “compressed biogas” (CBG) are to be produced by 2021 as a further objective.

The rise of elephant grass Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is right at the top of the list as an energy plant in Thailand, even if the new infeed tariff (FiT, see box) is not restricted to this. Napier grass, which is seen as the south-east Asian equivalent of German energy maize, is a rapid-growing grass originating from Africa.

Up to now it has mainly been used as food for elephants and cattle in Thailand. Due to the warm, tropical climate prevailing the whole

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

year round, it can be harvested between five and six times a year. Under good conditions, fresh mass yields of up to 500 t per hectare can be achieved. After being harvested, the grass is diced, fed into a biogas plant and fermented for 60 days. During mono-fermentation of Napier grass, the Thai energy ministry is assuming a gas yield of between 70 and 110 cubic metres of biogas per tonne of fresh mass.

Promotion of decentralised structures The lower-income rural regions of the country are intended to profit most from the new biogas policies. The Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE), which is a subsidiary of the Thai energy ministry, hopes that farmers will join forces to form co-operatives in order to cultivate Napier grass and sell it to the biogas facility operators at guaranteed minimum prices.

Overview of the new subsidy program: ff Feed-in tariff (FiT) of 4.5 THB/kWh (currently around 10 cents − current exchange rate around 1:45, http://ec.europa.eu/budget/ contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/ inforeuro_en.cfm) guaranteed for 20 years for biogas facilities of up to 1 MW on the basis of 100% energy plants. ff Support of 13 pilot plants (each 1 MW) with an overall budget of 260 million THB (5.7 m ¤).

20% of the investment costs, or a maximum of 20 mill. THB (442,000 ¤) can be refunded for each project. Selection of the projects was completed in December. ff Guaranteed purchase price per tonne Napier grass (fresh) of 300 THB (6.60 ¤).

In addition to the new program, the following subsidy instruments for biogas from residual material biomasses are valid: ff Technical consultation, tax incentives, investment subsidies. ff Premium (“adder”) of an additional 0.5 THB (1.1 euro cents) for facilities < 1 MW and 0.3 THB (0.7 euro cents) for facilities > 1 MW for seven years in each case.

The above premiums are added to the basic price of 2.89 THB/kWh (6.4 euro cents) plus a raw material tariff of currently 0.59 THB/kWh (1.3 euro cents).

To meet this objective, the DEDE supports pilot Napier grass plantations in 10 localities with different natural conditions as well as the development of communal business models.

Due to the prevalent structure of small farms, organising a reliable raw material supply to the facilities represents a central challenge.

In the context of its export initiative for renewable energies, the German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) supports the DEDE approach with a communal demonstration project in the province of Khon Kaen. In cooperation with the local developer and a German technology supplier, the consortium is developing a communal business model for the project, in which the exchange of experience for sustainable cultivation and management of energy plants is a central component.

Mono-fermentation and upgrading − high know-how requirements A further challenge in implementing the new objectives is the fact that the FiT is only guaranteed for facilities which use energy plant substrates only. Since there is as yet no experience whatsoever with the mono-fermentation of Napier grass in commercial biogas facilities within Thailand, apart from smaller experiments at universities, the DEDE is supporting 13 pilot projects with a research budget of around 5.7 million euros. These

are intended to demonstrate both feasibility and economic effectiveness. The hope is that German experience with the (mono)fermentation of maize or grass silage can be put into use - and a few German companies are already involved. There is also considerable interest in the German upgrading technology which treats the biogas in order to deploy it in natural gas vehicles. In 2012 there were already around 380,000 natural gas vehicles on Thailand’s roads - with an upward trend.

Overall, the people in the kingdom are extremely open towards different fuels. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Thai government has been subsidising liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). A specified price of 18.13 Thai baht (THB)/kg (40 euro cents) has led to the fact that more than 1 million vehicles with LPG motors are now registered. Natural gas is lagging behind, mostly due to the low filling station density. Together with the subsidisation of bioethanol (mostly from manioc and sugarcane) and biodiesel (especially from oil palms), the measures are aimed at increasing independence from crude oil, which needs to be imported at a rate of 85%.

Continuous market development Once Thailand had obtained its initial experience with very small facilities in the 1960s, the generation of biogas in industrial facilities has been subsidised since the beginning of

Overview of installed facilities in Thailand Industry

Installed facilities

Biogas production in m. m3/year

Pig farms (subsidy phases I-III, 1995-2010)

271

88.60

Pig farms (2008-2012)

263

74.81

Small agricultural operations

575

9.51

12

0.74

Slaughterhouses (pigs) Slaughterhouses (poultry)

5

6.02

59

385.82

Palm oil

88

211.00

Ethanol

21

263.05

Cassava starch

Caoutchouc Foodstuff residues Catering waste from hotels etc.

Others Total*

7

2.08

47

51.27

80

2.28

140

427.37

1,568

1,522.55

* The total number of facilities can vary since there may be a duplication of facilities from various subsidy phases.

Furthermore, facilities which do not receive a subsidy are not recorded.

Source: Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO), December 2013

39

English Issue

the 1990s. In the first subsidy phase stretching between 1995 and 2000, biogas facilities were set up mostly on pig farms, so that waste water problems could also be solved. In this case, most were smaller facilities with an installed electrical output of less than 1 MW. After the private sector and local authorities were able to gain initial experience with biogas technology in this way, state subsidisation was extended to agricultural and communal wastes from 2000 onwards. Nowadays, biogas facilities are mostly operated using residual materials from manioc starch, palm oil and ethanol production.

Although this potential has not completely been exploited, the market is considered to be mostly saturated for larger new facilities.

By now, almost all medium-sized and large manioc or palm oil mills possess their own biogas facilities, which either reduce their own energy consumption or feed power into the grid. The consistent subsidisation policy has paid off: facilities with a total capacity of 240 MW went on stream in Thailand

by September 2013. However, whether the declared objective of 600 MW from residual

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

material biomasses and 3,000 MW on the basis of energy plants can be achieved by 2021 depends not only on the technology.

Deficits on installation, monitoring, maintenance and operation: a challenge for target achievement Experts in Thailand are questioning the new, higher objectives since biogas plants on site often show low utilisation rates which are due to a lack of operational experience, insufficient or incorrect maintenance and the quality of the technology used, which is often very low. In order to improve the performance of existing plants, there is an extremely high requirement for foreign technology and operational expertise.

There is also no Thai biogas association to date which could start asserting itself for quality assurance within the industry. This deficit is, however, known to the Thai government, which is increasingly endeavouring to secure cooperation with German and European companies. The GIZ is also addressing this market obstacle. In the course of a Public-Private Partnership (developpp.de)

with South Pole Carbon, for example, a monitoring tool for measuring the performance of biogas facilities was developed. Furthermore, capacity development measures are to be implemented in the region together with German and local partners in the future.

German suppliers profit from the focus on energy plants − sustainability decides The rapid expansion of biogas production in Germany after the introduction of the REL is considered to be an example worth duplicating in Thailand. In this context, one thing has been ignored in Thailand up to now: the fact that German public opinion has led to a considerably more critical attitude towards energy plants with its critical voices on the “maize takeover” of the landscape, and the subordinate competition between the cultivation of energy plants and that of foodstuffs . Furthermore, the Thai government’s plans do not make clear on which areas the required Napier grass is to be cultivated or whether these are to be previously unused areas.

It is therefore even more important that in-

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40

English Issue

Photo: Nipaporn Asawaphat

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Napier grass field in the area around Sakorn Nakorn (north-east Thailand) vestment in the technology complies with strict sustainability criteria and that an exchange of information about the sustainability of energy plants takes place on both a political and a private commercial level. This is the only way to profit from the experience, for example from Germany, and to avoid an emotional debate at a later date. Since the

growth potential in the biogas market has been detected by all political camps and the market is stable, it cannot be assumed that the current political uncertainties in Thailand will have a major influence on the economic activities in the biogas sector in the long term. However, short-term uncertainties will remain.

Altogether, the Thai market offers good expansion potentials in the future, especially for German technology suppliers and technical consultants wanting to develop concepts for the utilisation of Napier grass together with Thai partners. Due to the focus on residual materials from the agricultural industry, the biogas markets in south-east Asia have represented a challenge for German biogas technology suppliers in the past.

German products were not designed for the less solid substrates, and the attractive business possibilities in Germany prevented companies from implementing further development and technology adaptation for the new markets. But now the trend reversal has been initiated: Many German compa-

nies are under economic pressure and need to develop new foreign markets. Thailand’s interest in technologies for the fermentation of Napier grass and other energy plants will open doors − for plant manufacturers, component suppliers, project developers, but also for manufacturers of harvesting machines and suppliers of training programs.

Authors Gisa Holzhausen Supalerk Kanasook Max Schönfisch Association for International Cooperation Project Development Programme c/o Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) Ministry of Energy 17, Building 6 (7th Fl.), Rama 1 Rd, Kasatsuk Bridge, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand Phone: 0066 2621 8441 e-mail: gisa.holzhausen@giz.de www.giz.de/projektentwicklungsprogramm

Conference of the European Biogas Association September 30 - October 2, 2014 Alkmaar region, The Netherlands • internationally noted speakers • study tours • excellent networking opportunities • exhibition and poster session • side event on gasification

www.BiogasConference.eu 41

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Millions in investments chasing billions in return: not finance on Wall Street, but biogas in Asia

a i s y Mala

Malaysian palm oil mills have put together another 500 million Malaysian ringgit (RM) (US$ 150 million) to a total of RM 2 billion (US$ 600 million) to be invested into biogas projects this year. The application period has been extended for another three years, till 31 December 2015.

By Vincent Choy

A

ccording to Malaysia’s Green Technology Financing Scheme (GTFS), the maximum financing amount offered to green technology producers and users is RM 50 million for tenures of up to 15 years and RM 10 million (US$ 3 million) for tenures of up to 10 years per company.

The country’s vast palm oil fields span some 5.23 million hectares and generate a whopping RM 850 million (US$ 255 million) per year. The industry has been growing steadily and it looks like it will continue to do so. Hidden within this economic powerhouse is an untapped biogas treasure trove holding the potential for millions more in revenue.

The large amount of waste products from the processing and harvesting of palm oil remains largely untapped. Byproducts such as palm oil mill effluent (POME), empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm kernel shells (PKS) and meso-

42

carp fiber from the processing of palm oil from fresh fruit bunches (FFB) are produced in copious amounts. Only a fraction of these products however, are currently being used to generate biogas.

Upcoming Regulations It is going to be a requirement by 2018 that all palm oil mills in Malaysia need to be equipped with a methane capturing facility. Of the 426 existing palm oil mills, only 55 mills have completed biogas plants in their mills, while 16 more are under construction. Over 80% of the mills have not come up with concrete plans for methane capture, and this represents a tremendous market for the construction, installation, and operation of anaerobic digesters and equipment. Of course, with this regulation coming into place, many mills are also wondering what to do with the biogas generated.

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

FiT for biogas plants in Malaysia Description of Qualifying Renewable Energy Installation

FiT Rates (RM per kWh)

Revised FiT Rates (RM per kWh)

2014

2014

0.3168

0.3184

> 4 MW ≥ 10 MW

0.297

0.2985

> 10 MW ≥ 30 MW

0.2772

0.2786

2014

2014

Use of engine gas technology with electrical efficiency > 40%

+0.0198

+0.0199

Use of locally manufactured or assembled gas engine technology

+0.0099

+0.0500

Use of landfill or sewage gas as fuel source

+0.0771

+0.0786

(a) Basic FiT rates having installed capacity of: 4MW

(b) Bonus FiT rates having the following criteria (one or more)

Source: Sustainable Energy and Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA)

Further Incentives

Areal Planted (Hectares)

A recent study conducted by Monash University estiFurthermore, the government sees this as an opportunity mates that a palm oil mill with a processing capacity of to meet the targets set in their renewable energy and fuel 60 tonnes per hour for electricity generation using biogas diversification policies. In addition to GTFS, the Malayproduced from POME treatment can obtain a net profit of sian government offers further incentives that include RM 3.8 million (US$ 1.14 million) per year. To date, two bearing 2% of the total interest rate of the loan approved biogas plants located in Johor are already connected to as well as providing a guarantee of 60% on the financing the grid with a total capacity of 3.25 MW. amount, with the remaining 40% of the financing risk to However, according to the Malaysian Biotechnology Corbe taken on by participating financial institutions. poration, only 30% of the palm oil mills in Malaysia are Bionexus Status within the profitable 10 km radius from the grid. SEDA, As of 2005, the Malaysian government has had a dedithe Malaysian authorities have recognized this and have cated biotechnology agency tasked to help facilitate the amended their Feed-In-Tariff systems to make power execution of its National Biotechnology Policy. The agengeneration from biogas more profitable, and thus encourage greater connectivity. As of 2014, the revised FiT rates you Oil palm plantation area and crude palm oil production in Malaysia can see in the table. On top of power generation, Malaysia is also in7.000.000 creasingly becoming aware of the X fact that bio-methane generated X from biogas is a valuable resource X X 6.000.000 worth tapping.

X X X BioCNG X 5.000.000 X Sime Darby, Malaysia’s largest X palm oil producer, estimates that at least 80 mills have the scale and 4.000.000 volume to be profitable bioCNG plants. With subsidies for industrial 3.000.000 natural gas being scaled back and the rising demand for natural gas in Asia, bioCNG produced from the 2.000.000 mills can be profitably transported to centers where there is a demand for natural gas. According to Sime 1.000.000 Darby’s estimates, the potential 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 for bioCNG exceeds 25 MMSCFD year (Million standard cubic feet per Sarawak Sabah P. Msia X CPO production day) and can generate RM 290 milSource: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 26 (2013) 717–726. lion per year at today’s gas prices.

20.000 18.000 14.000 12.000 8.000 6.000

CPO Production (`000 tonnes)

Electricity Generation

4.000 2.000 0

43

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

cy, BiotechCorp, acts as the chief driver for biotechnology development by providing strategic direction, operational assistance for businesses and developing specialized infrastructure. They operate under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and are the one-stop center for all biotech-related operation enquiries, including biomass and biogas projects, within the country.

The agency offers companies the possibility to attain ‘Bionexus Status’, which will grant them the following in order to assist growth: ff100% tax exemption from profit for 10 years ff20% tax exemption for the following 10 years ffEligibility to receive assistance for international accreditation and standards ffEligibility for competitive incentives and other assistance

Industries Confederation (MBIC), offering partnerships to investors interested in the development, operation and technology of biogas and biomass plants.

Annual Meeting There is an annual meeting in Malaysia, this year held from 2-4 June at JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur. Each year the meeting aims to inform top industry executives on the changing regulations in the region as well as to act as a meeting place for the development of business partnerships and networks. As a platform to bring worldwide attention to Malaysia’s master plan for biogas development, it also seeks to provide commercial opportunities for suppliers to showcase their latest products and industry solutions. The forum is organized by the International Clean Energy and Sustainability Network (ICESN) in conjunction with BiotechCorp and major sponsors such as Air Liquide, BTS Biogas, Caterpillar and Xebec.

ffFreedom of ownership ffFreedom to source funds globally ffUnrestricted employment of workers ffA strong intellectual property regime

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English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Ground mounted raw biogas storage, biogas upgrading, compression and filling facility of 350 Nm³ per hour raw biogas at Jaipur, India.

Prospects and challenges Developing countries like India have a great potential to speed up the utilisation of their ­endowed renewable resources to power their growing economies with a secure and ­reasonable energy supply. The Indian Government is recognising that the development of renewable resources is significant to ensure it can meet both its economic and environmental objectives, and therefore it is promoting such steps through suitable policy actions.

By Gaurav Kumar Kedia

I

ndia is in a phase, where its economy has been experiencing tremendous growth over the past several years. Energy, in any form, can strengthen past, present and future growth. Therefore - for Indian economy to continue the growth route - it needs to address its energy challenges, which cross all sectors and impact all citizens. With the support of natural resources, the utilisation of bioenergy can play a vital role in eradicating rural and urban energy poverty.

The World Bank predicts that India’s GDP will grow 6.2% in FY 2014. In the light of ever-growing industrial development, urbanisation and lifestyle change, more and more environment- and climate change-related challenges arise to be dealt with. Statistically, about 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) and 38 billion litres of sewage are generated in the urban areas of India on an annual basis. Additionally, large quantities of solid and liquid wastes are generated by industries. Biogas tech-

nology, a recent development in India, can help in treating such wastes safely and in a more decentralised manner, and can even produce clean renewable energy. Almost 50% of the MSW contains organic matter, which can be treated in biogas plants. The Biological Oxygen Demands (BOD) of the sewage are normally also good enough to opt for anaerobic digestion.

India

The amount of waste increases rapidly The mountain of rubbish in India is projected to escalate rapidly. Due to migration to urban areas and to an increase in the middle class, consumption levels are likely to rise, which ultimately leads to high rates of waste generation. It is estimated that the amount of waste generated in India will increase at a per capita rate of approximately 1% annually.

45

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Area view of the biogas generation, upgrading, compression and filling facility at Jaipur, India.

This has substantial impacts not only on the amount of land that will be needed for disposal, but also on the financials for collecting and transporting waste, and the environmental concerns.

According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), there exists a potential of about 1,700 MW from urban waste (1,500 MW from MSW and 225 MW from sewage) and about 1,300 MW from indusGround mounted raw biogas storage and bio-CNG cascades trial waste. Furthermore, at Jaipur, India. they estimate that India has the potential of producing 10% of the country’s energy requirements, which is calculated to be around 17,000 MW, by adopting biogas technology.

Waste to Energy Sector has chances for companies The ministry is actively promoting the generation of energy from waste, by providing subsidies and incentives for the projects. The recent scheme for biogas projects is strongly advocating the development of anaerobic digestion. A market analysis from Frost and Sullivan predicts that the Indian “municipal solid waste to energy market” could be growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7%. With a growing public awareness about sanitation and increasing pressure on the government, as well as urban and rural local bodies, to manage waste more efficiently, the waste to energy sector is poised to grow rapidly in India in the years to come.

46

Undoubtedly, biogas technology specifically offers an excellent unconventional energy source for rural India.

It has the capabilities to satisfy the requirements for cooking and basic fuel. Moreover, rural areas are in a better situation to employ local organic substrates like cattle dung, agricultural waste and so on for the generation of biogas. The recent development in biogas upgradation offers a cost effective yet reliable solution to convert biogas into natural gas equivalent. A number of plants with the indigenous technology are already running. The most recent one is installed at a sewage treatment plant in Jaipur. It has a raw biogas upgradation capacity of 8,400 cubic meters per day, which is equivalent to 3,360 kg of Liquified Petroleum Gas. We at the Indian Biogas Association feel that the pressing needs of waste management and reliable renewable sources are creating very attractive opportunities for investors and project developers. The Indian Biogas Association is actively contributing to this from the awareness, feasibility and technological points of view. Apart from technical and financial feasibility, we are emphasising on local social feasibility, which also encompasses the complete supply-chain and value-chain. We hope to bring together a cross section of stakeholders directly and indirectly associated with this sector, wherein various challenges stalling the growth and causing roadblocks for the growth of this sector would be deliberated upon and many key points will emerge for their resolution.

Author Gaurav Kumar Kedia Chairman Indian Biogas Association Phone: 0091 96876 11723 e-mail: gk.kedia@gmail.com www.biogas-india.com

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

Extremely promising biogas potential in ­agricultural industry

Indonesia In Indonesia, the largest biogas potential can be found in the palm oil industry, which ­produces 21 million tonnes of raw palm oil annually, 45% of the world market.

In addition to the palm oil industry, there are many other sectors with good possibilities for biogas ­usage, ranging from the tapioca starch industry to pineapple processing.

By Rudolf Rauch

I

f you show Indonesian seminar participants a November picture taken in Germany − with empty fields and bare trees under a grey, overcast sky − and then tell them that there are over 7,000 biogas facilities with more than 3,700 MW of installed capacity in the country, producing power the whole year round, the reaction is disbelieving amazement. This is because their country has less than 10 biogas facilities feeding power into the grid.

Even though it is a country with six times the land area, a tropical climate, fertile soils and multiple harvests each year − a land in which, proverbially, fruits grow directly into the guests’ mouths.

It is obvious that the biogas potential in a tropical country such as Indonesia with its 250 million residents is a multiple of that available in Germany. So the question is: why have renewable energies, apart from waterpower and geothermal energy, hardly played a role up to now? People have not been thinking about the energy supply for many years because Indonesia is rich in natural resources and possesses coal, gas, and many other valuable minerals.

However the time of cheap oil, which is the most important energy source in Indonesia, has passed. Inland production has been decreasing for years. The country has left OPEC and increasingly needs to import expensive oil, which is a burden on the trade balance.

70 million people without power Meanwhile, safeguarding the energy supply has forced itself into the political limelight. The economic growth of over 6% is associated with an annual increase in energy

consumption of more than 8%. Providing the largest island country in the world with power poses an enormous challenge to the government. Only the main island of Java and its neighbouring island of Bali are provided with an integrated grid. 70 million people still have absolutely no access to electricity. Supply on many islands is only provided by local grids, which are mostly fed by diesel generators.

In these cases, generation costs amount to more than 20 euro cents per kilowatt hour. Wastes from the agricultural industry could play an inexpensive and environmentallyfriendly part in the power supply, especially in rural areas.

The Indonesian government has now recognised this fact and passed a regulation which allows electricity infeed at the beginning of 2012. This means that the agricultural industry can now use its waste overproduction economically for the first time.

Biogas plant for the treatment of wastewater from a palm oil mill belonging to the ANJ group, situated on the island of Belitung, which is just off South Sumatra. In 2013, a gas motor with 1.2 MW electrical power output was connected to the local power grid to replace expensive power produced by diesel generators.

GIZ implementing renewable energy On behalf of various German ministries and other clients, the German ”Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit“ (GIZ) GmbH is implementing renewable energy products in Indonesia and the ASEAN countries (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) with the aim of securing a sustainable power supply, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and preventing emission of greenhouse gases. As early as 2004, the E3Agro project (Energy and Eco-Efficiency in Agroindustry, 2004-2008, financed by the Federal Minstry for Economic Cooperation and Development) dealt with the subject of energy

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from biomass wastes in Thailand. Thanks to a cooperation with the Thai Palm Oil Mills Association and the energy ministry, it proved possible to push the usage of wastes for power generation forward by consulting on the operation and improving the sequences for power infeed. By now, most Thai mills have their own biogas plants with a size of up to several megawatts. This is a role model for Indonesia, because the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest producer of palm oil produces five times the quantity Thailand does.

As in many developing and emerging nations, the agricultural industry plays a decisive role in the transition between an agricultural-based economy to an industrial nation. Through the use of local raw materials and their processing, a productive agricultural industry can secure the income for wide population strata in rural areas.

Biogas yields per tonne of processed fresh infructescences (FFB) for 10 palm oil mills registered at the UNFCCC

Biogas yield per tonne FFB 20 18

NmÂł Biogas/tonne FFB

16

10,000 MW from biomasses theoretically possible The theoretical potential for power generated from biomasses is estimated to be over 10,000 MW in Indonesia.

The economic potential is considerably below this because of the current framework conditions. The most economic thing to do is to use the wastes directly where they are produced. This results in immediate benefits for the generation of biogas from the treatment of organically-loaded wastewater, because â&#x2C6;&#x2019; in contrast to solid biomasses â&#x2C6;&#x2019; wastewater cannot be transported economically.

As the wastewater is available free of charge, uninterrupted supplies and price stability of the energy raw materials are guaranteed. Apart from this, there are numerous other benefits to be had from anaerobic treatment, such as the reduction of the area required for wastewater ponds, avoidance of methane which damages the climate, observance of environmental regulations, and fertiliser production. In Thailand, these factors have contributed to the fact that biogas technology has established itself considerably in advance of the power generation from solid biomass wastes, because owners can sell these easily during increasing energy prices.

Agricultural industry utilises wastes

14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 GIZ Indonesia , LCORE project, biogas benchmarking study POME Indonesia 2012

A large part of Indonesiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agricultural industry is already using its wastes energetically for processes requiring heat and power in-house. Two groups can be found here: The first group posesses a surplus of residue materials which exceeds in-house requirements and can only be used if it is sold, further processed or used for power generation and fed into the grid at economic prices. This group includes the palm oil and sugar industries. The second group consists of companies which can use their wastes completely for in-house operations, for example the tapioca starch industry. Whereas the first group is dependent on political

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framework conditions for power infeed, the second group has considerable economic potential for replacing expensive power from the network or heating oil with biogas.

The largest biogas potential in Indonesia can be found in the palm oil industry, which produces 21 million tonnes of raw palm oil annually, 45% of the world market. On top of this, 600 mills process 100,000,000 t of fresh infructescences (fresh fruit bunches = FFBs). For every tonne of FFB produced, 0.6 m3 of waste water occurs (palm oil mill effluent = POME) which is considerably organically polluted. The POME is normally treated aerobically in a series of open ponds, requiring an area of several hectares.

CDM mechanism initiated biogas plants Since there were no power infeed regulations for bioenergy in Indonesia until the beginning of 2012, there was no incentive to use the waste water. The only possibility resulted from using the CDM mechanism in order to produce CO2 certificates through the avoidance of methane.

The 10 biogas facilities which result from this and are registered under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) simply burn off the methane.

In the context of the LCORE project [Promotion of Least Cost Renewables in Indonesia, 2012-2015, financed by the BMU from the international climate protection initiative (IKI), www.lcore-indonesia.or.id], these facilities were subject to a benchmarking process. The figure below shows the biogas yields per tonne of processed FFBs. The wide variation range reflects the differing chemical oxygen demand values of the wastewater and the efficiency of the biogas facilities. The highest yield was shown by a facility using UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket), the other nine used so-called ”covered lagoons“ (see photo 1). If a yield of 16 m³ of biogas per tonne of FFB is used as a basis for the better facilities, they produce an electrical capacity of more than 2 MW with a meth-

ane content of 60% and power generation in sufficient gas motor in a mill with a processing capacity of 60 t FFB per hour.

In addition to wastewater, the palm oil process produces several other wastes which can also be used for the generation of biogas. The socalled ”decanter sludge“ (40 kg per tonne of FFB), which is a waste product from oil cleaning, can increase the yield in biogas facilities considerably. Biogas generation from empty fruit bunches (EFB), which produces around 210 kg/tonne of EFB, is currently at the trial stage. After steam sterilisation and separation of the palm fruits, the product is a fibrous stalk containing oil which has a high water content of 65%.

Empty fruit bunches fermented in dry fermentation A small proportion of the EFBs are returned to the neighbouring plantations as fertiliser, but the major proportion is simply cremated or taken to dumps where it releases methane. EFBs are problematical fuels for biomass power stations due to their consistency and high potassium content, which results in slag formation in the boilers. Dry fermentation could be considered as an alternative, but this requires digestion of the cellulose. Laboratory tests have shown that a biogas yield of 80 norm cubic metres per tonne of EFB is possible without digestion, but 230 is possible with digestion. Indonesia therefore represents a huge market for technology suppliers of economic solutions for

One of the few biogas facilities which was installed under the CDM mechanism before the infeed regulations in Indonesia. The ”covered lagoon“ facility uses wastewater from a palm oil mill. The biogas collected is then burnt off to generate CO2 certificates.

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EFB usage. In addition to the palm oil industry, there are many other sectors with a good potential for biogas usage ranging from the tapioca starch industry to pineapple processing. Thanks to increasing energy prices and better framework conditions for infeed, the agricultural industry is becoming more confident in its productivity potential regarding the integrated creation of foodstuffs and energy from wastes. If power can be sold at a profit, it will be wortwhile to look at possibilities for optimising the production processes within the agricultural industry, for example through using combined heat and power.

Infeed tariffs vary regionally However, there is still a long way to go in this direction because improvement in the framework conditions and sequences for the grid infeed are very much at the foreground − the previous tariffs have proved to be too low and operations were too slow. Depending on the region, the infeed tariffs range from 975 IDR/kWh (~6.4 euro cents) in Java and Sumatra up to 1365 IDR/kWh (~9.0 euro cents) in remote regions. However, the Indonesian currency has lost 25% of its value against the euro since the introduction of the tariff in February 2012. Initially, the tariff was between 8.5 and 12 euro cents. For this reason, the tariff is to be raised in the coming months in order to provide more incentives for investments in efficient biogas plants and biomass power stations.

Companies interested in the Indonesian market can contact the LCORE project directly or get in touch with the Southeast Asia project development program (PEP-SOA1), which holds events on the subject of biogas for German companies in the course of the export initiative for renewable energies.

Southeast Asian project development program (PEPSOA), financed by the Federal Ministry of economy and technology’s export initiative for renewable energies, http://www.giz.de/projektentwicklungsprogramm; http:// www.exportinitiative.bmwi.de 1

Author Dr. Rudolf Rauch Director Renewable Energy Programme Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Project Office: ASEAN Centre of Energy (ACE) Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said, Block X-2 Kav. 7-8; 6th Floor 12950 Jakarta, Indonesia Phone: 0062 21 527 8025 Mobile: 0062 811 940 2145 e-mail: rudolf.rauch@giz.de · www.giz.de www.resp.aseanenergy.org www. endev-indonesia.or.id www.lcore-indonesia.or.id

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Biogas Journalâ&#x20AC;&#x192; |â&#x20AC;&#x192; MAY_2014

Cattle farming in Ghana: The excrements of the animals provide 39 per cent of the biogas potential from slurry and manure.

Farm industry yearning for stability of energy supply As population growth continues and the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thirst for energy cannot be quenched, Ghana is facing formidable challenges. Electric grid fluctuations and rocketing energy prices are typical of the energy situation in the country. So SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and the agribusiness are looking for alternative solutions to achieve stability in the energy supply in order to avoid loss of production and to keep energy costs stable in the long term.

Ghana

By Ulrike Daniel

G

hana has interesting potentials for the production of electricity from renewable sources such as solar, wind, small-scale hydropower and biomass. Particularly biogas as a renewable energy source is available locally and can be produced all the year round. Under the Renewable Energy Sources export initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy, the Project Development Program (PEP) of GIZ, focuses on biogas in Ghana. As part of a bundle of measures, PEP recently prepared an analysis1 to see what the potential

for the development of a biogas sector in Ghana is. The results are promising, mainly in the food industry. Biomass which is suitable for the production of biogas is available throughout Ghana, because the economy is strongly focused on farming. The main areas in farming are food and feed plant production, animal husbandry, fishing, the planting and processing of cocoa, as well as forestry. Three different categories of biomass that can serve as substrates in biogas plants are produced. All of these are by-products or waste of farming production. One category is farming waste and

residue, such as rice and millet straw as well as corn cobs and stems, which are available in abundance. The second category is large quantities of slurry and solid manure from animal husbandry. A third category comprises biogenic waste from food and feed processing. These include, for example, wastewater and residue from palm oil production, sewage sludge and spent grain from breweries, shrubs, as well as animal waste from slaughter houses. Compared with the substrate potential available, the number of biogas plants in the country is small. Existing biogas plants are mostly very

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Unused biogas potential in the food industry

small-scale domestic plants. Available substrate goes unused, for the most part. One of the greatest challenges for medium and large-size biogas plants is the regular supply of substrate.

The large-scale utilisation of waste and residue from farming is complicated, because most farms in Ghana are small and produce only modest quantities of potential substrate. This can be a considerable obstacle due to the variation in the quality of the substrate and the lack of constancy of supply, but also because of the high specific cost caused by transportation logistics. Food processing factories represent a major potential for large-scale biogas plants.

The production of energy from biogenic food processing waste is an attractive business for all production sites. An industry analysis by EnD-I Osam Energy& Environment Consulting Ltd. and 3 E-Sustainable Solutions GmbH found that several companies are considering biogas solutions. Some even have concrete plans or have started implementing biogas plants.

Companies such as fruit juice producers or breweries are hit hard by the dramatic increase in the costs of electricity and diesel fuel, the instability of the electricity supply and the related loss in production. Tradi-

Biogas potential of the three main farming sectors Maximum biogas potential of the three main substrate categories

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Residue from farming Yams straw Corn cobs and stems Rise straw

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Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

tionally, they take precaution by installing their own diesel generating sets as reliable sources of electricity. The installation of local biogas plants would enable them to utilise farm waste as feedstuff for biogas plants and save them the cost of disposal of such waste. Electricity can be produced for internal consumption and the digestion residue can serve as a fertiliser in the fields.

Excess electricity can be fed into the public grid. The large quantities of organic waste from, for example, the palm oil industry, could feed biogas plants of up to 8 megawatts (MW) electricity output to ensure the constant supply of electric power. Organic waste available at the different sites would permit brewers, cocoa producers or fruit processors to operate plants of an average electric output of 300 to 400 kilowatts.

Customers can enjoy financial benefits from biogas projects if, in addition to electricity, heat can be generated and used.

Production processes in the food industry need electricity, heat as well as refrigeration energy, and steam. In view of that, it is recommended to develop comprehensive concepts for the production of biogas and to study the present structure of energy consumption to adapt the design of the biogas plants to the actual needs.

Finance is a problem At present, the development of biogas projects is faced with the high specific investment per installed kilowatt. The funding of such projects is very difficult due to the high domestic rates of interest and the reluctance of local banks to grant long-term loans, so that interesting project approaches are uneconomical. Relief could come from financing mechanisms which local banks are developing for the renewable energy sources sector.

In addition, the provision of support and finance by the German group of banks KfW and other international financing organisations could be helpful. The GIZ Project Development Program also helps local banks provide long-term encouragement for the development of biogas projects. To raise awareness of the technology will be a central item on the agenda of further activities of the Project Development Program. In addition to banks, potential customers in the farming sector will also be addressed.

Another factor inhibiting the development of the biogas sector is the operation and pro-

cess control of biogas plants. There are only few engineers or technicians in Ghana with the experience or qualification necessary to act as plant or shift managers of biogas plants. The poor maintenance culture in that country must be added to this. There is a lack of know-how and also of awareness of regular and correct maintenance of the equipment. These are risks for biogas projects, which have to be taken into consideration. They may result in additional operative costs and in the worst of cases to replacement investment or the total failure of a plant.

xation Silobag fi

Ambitious government goals pave the way for renewables Ghana has fixed the compensation for the feeding of electricity into the grid and hopes this will give a fillip to potential customers and project developers and result in more electricity being produced from renewable sources. Feed-in tariffs based on the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) with categories for solar, wind, hydropower and biomass have been in effect since September 2013. The compensation for electricity from biomass, landfill gas and sewage gas is fixed at 31.4696 Ghanaian Pesewa for each kilowatt-hour (kWh), this equals 15.76 US cents per kWh2.

The goal of the Ghanaian government is to increase the share of energy from renewable sources in the total energy mix and raise it to 10 per cent of the electricity production by 2020. To this end, the “Renewable Energy Act” was put into effect in 2011. Under this act, independent electricity producers are allowed access to the public electricity grid, and the two state-run grid operators are obliged to buy electricity generated by independent producers from renewable sources and feed it into the grid.

Potential business for the German biogas sector The growing interest in and the need for biogas plants in Ghana holds out prospects for business to German biogas plant suppliers.

Technology and project development experience are needed, as much as plants and equipment for biogas production, electricity production and use. Technology providers, plant makers, but also maintenance suppliers and service providers stand a good chance of planning, implementing and possibly also operating projects for customers

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• Silage protection covers • Silobags • Silobag fixation • Silage film • Underlayer film

English Issue

Photos: EnD-I Osam Energy & Environment Consulting Ltd.

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

in Ghana, together with German engineering experts and experienced advisers. Any company wanting to gain a foothold in the Ghanaian market should choose the right partners. Assistance in this process is provided by the GIZ Project Development Program, together with the Delegation of German Economy in Accra. Potential partners can also be met during a trip to explore the use of biomass for the production of energy.

It is organised by the German Chamber of Commerce and scheduled for the first quarter of 2015. Cooperation with a local

partner is considered a precondition for the successful establishment of relations with customers. The inclusion of local know-how can set up a successful network, create an understanding of local conditions and possibly overcome cultural barriers.

Fruit processors produce ample feedstuff for biogas production.

Author Ulrike Daniel Managing Director, EnD-I OsamEnergy& Environment Consulting Ltd. (Accra, Ghana) and 3E Sustainable Solutions GmbH, Cologne, Germany www.3-e.de.com Contact:

Available at www.giz.de/projektentwicklungsprogramm 2 The conversion is based on a rate of exchange of 1.9968 US dollar for one Ghanaian Cedi on 27 August 2013, to which the feeding compensation is linked.

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Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

3 GW potential of electricity from biogas No doubt South Africa faces many challenges in developing a sizable biogas industry, but there is a massive potential for the development of viable Waste to Energy projects in both the public and private sectors.

The government is showing an increasing awareness of the multiple benefits associated with a growing biogas industry, and with their pro-active support could see the industry growing rapidly over the next five to ten years.

South Af rica

By Mark Tiepelt

O

ver the past four years, since the implementation of the Independent Power Producer (IPP) program, South Africa has made a multi-billion Rand investment into renewable energy. The IPP program is based on a competitive bidding process, and although it has had its share of challenges to develop, it has seen billions invested in the renewable energy sector in South Africa and has been internationally acclaimed. Although this process eliminated the general feed-in tariff structure adopted by most other countries in the world, it has led to the project approval of over 3,725 MW of primarily solar PV, wind and some hydro projects.

This process has, however, done very little for the promotion of biogas projects, with only a single 18 MW landfill biogas project approved in the third bidding round − no other biogas projects managed to get an IPP license.

South Africa (SA) has less than 300 digesters installed, half at Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the balance primarily aid funded rural digesters − only a handful of digesters at commercial institutions.

As it currently stands, SA has no biogas industry to speak of. Significant strides have, however, been made over

the past two to three years in raising awareness of biogas as a practical and cost-effective alternative source of renewable energy, that could deliver multiple additional benefits when compared to the other more well-known renewables such as PV, wind and hydro. Both the public

Digesters built in the early 1980’s at municipal WWTW.

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and private sectors are steadily showing an increased interest in the benefits biogas can provide as a technology.

Waste management has benefits A major benefit for the government is the possibility of creating meaningful numbers of new job opportunities in the green energy sector. For the private sector, the main attraction is to reduce their electricity costs and obtain some autonomy from the grid supply, which is showing increasing signs of vulnerability. Environmentally acceptable waste management is another benefit attractive to both the public and private sectors.

The Southern African Biogas Industry Association (SABIA) was established in early 2013, with its main mandate the promotion of biogas as a viable technology in SA. As the country does not have a biogas industry, some of the main challenges are around regulations, licenses and laws that are either totally absent or not specifically applicable to biogas. In order to ensure the establishment of a vibrant biogas industry in SA, SABIA has established a sub-committee specifically tasked with assisting in the development of regulatory requirements that are conducive rather than restrictive in nature. SABIA is well supported by both the public and private sectors. A successful two-day national biogas conference was held in November 2013 with the direct support from the Depart-

ment of Energy (DoE) and the Development Bank of SA (DBSA). The conference was attended by over 120 delegates and played a significant role in creating awareness of biogas and its benefits, but at the same time identifying the major hurdles and challenges faced by the fledgling biogas industry in SA.

National Biogas Platform established As a follow-on from the conference, SABIA, the DoE and GIZ identified the need to establish a national forum with multiple sector participation. This could address the issues raised by the conference, in order to expedite the roll-out of biogas projects in the country. This resulted in the establishment of the National Biogas Platform, with GIZ playing the role as facilitator and hosting the first platform meeting in December 2013. Participants included representatives from most of the relevant government departments, the national utility (Eskom), SABIA, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), DBSA, research institutes, universities and a number of private sector companies. The main goal of the platform is to identify challenges faced by the industry and to find ways to address and overcome these through discussions and actions by platform participants. A number of studies have been conducted recently to determine the potential of biogas Waste to Energy (WtE) projects in SA. One of the most

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significant studies was commissioned by the Water Research Council of SA and conducted by the University of Cape Town (UCT) on ”Energy from Wastewater in South Africa“. This study by no means covered all sources of waste in SA, but still indicated a potential of 2.6 GW generated from wastewater alone! Electricity produced from biogas therefore has the potential of supplying over 30% of the government target of 10 GW generated by renewable energy. A significant potential for the implementation of biogas WtE plants in SA lies with municipal WWTW. The sewage sludge produced by these plants has a significant potential to be converted into biogas and to provide a portion of the electricity requirements of the WWTW. Most WWTW in SA are currently facing significant operational challenges, of which sludge management is a major one.

Large scale investment in a program of WWTW refurbishments, including fully operational biogas CHP plants, could play a major role not only in the increased efficiency of WWTW, but also in reducing overhead cost by supplying the plants with electricity generated by themselves.

No privately owned electricity supply companies South Africa has a single electricity supply utility, Eskom.

Apart from the newly established IPP program, there are no privately owned electricity supply companies in SA.

Eskom has increased the cost per kWh by over 25% year on year since 2008 and will receive an 8% per annum increase as approved by NERSA (National Energy Regulator of SA) for 2013 to 2018. These increases have had a fundamental impact on the cost of doing business in SA. Eskom is also facing capacity challenges which led to major controlled load shedding in 2008, causing serious damage to the SA economy.

Although Eskom has managed to maintain supply since 2008, SA experienced its first load shedding again earlier this year. Eskom is currently building new coal-fired power stations, but these are facing massive construction and commissioning challenges, as well as major cost overruns.

The current state of national electricity supply therefore makes a serious case for the promotion and establishment of any form of renewable electricity supply, to which biogas could make a significant contribution.

As indicated above, there is a conservative potential of producing 3 GW of electricity from biogas, a potential of which the tapping has not even started yet. There are a number of factors that have influenced the slow uptake of biogas WtE projects: ffBiogas is an unknown technology in SA. Although there is an increased awareness of the potential offered by biogas, there is still limited understanding and

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Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

years. Any WtE plant will require long-term contracts (ten years and longer) to prove and secure long-term viability for the project − a requirement from project developers as well as project financiers. Although procedures exist for municipalities to get approval to engage in long-term contracts by applying directly to National Treasury, this is currently still a challenging and time-consuming process.

Positive factors to speed up biogas No doubt SA faces some significant challenges to develop a vibrant biogas industry, but there are also a number of positive factors that could speed up this process: ffThe creation of SABIA and the National Biogas Platform, that will play a significant role in identifying and subsequently overcoming specific challenges faced by the industry.

Soft digester or biobag installed at a 2,000 unit pig farm in Tarlton outside Johannesburg. hence a hesitancy in actual commitment, especially from the private sector. ffA number of international biogas companies have ventured into the SA market, but most of the many variables influencing the viability of biogas projects are significantly different compared to European parameters. This has already resulted in projects not realising their design projections, potentially damaging the short term uptake of biogas projects in SA. ffSA has no or very little standards and guidelines specific to biogas, making it extremely challenging to obtain the necessary licenses and approvals from government, as there is no precedence. The contract for the largest biogas WtE plant in SA, a 3 MW plant based on cattle manure and collected industrial organic waste, was signed in February 2014. This project has, however, taken over six years from inception to contract signing, with construction only planned to start in the third quarter of 2014!

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ff Municipal WWTW has a high potential for the establishment of WtE plants, especially if additional organic waste from either the organic fraction of collected municipal solid waste (MSW) or from the private sector could be securely sourced long-term for the project. ff Municipalities are, however, restricted in their ability to sign long-term agreements in that they cannot sign any contracts extending beyond three

ffIncreasing awareness of the government relating not only to real time job-creation opportunities offered by a growing biogas industry, but also skills transfer, a potential entirely new manufacturing industry, clean energy provision to rural communities, waste management and carbon mitigation. ffExisting grants offered by the government specifically for WtE projects, specifically for companies in the manufacturing sector. ffDirect benefits for companies relating to carbon mitigation as a result of implementing biogas projects − this is especially relevant when seen in the light of the new carbon tax laws coming into effect in 2016. ffIncreasingly restrictive waste management regulations coming into effect in SA will increase the attractiveness of biogas plants. ffSA as a country has set itself high carbon-reduction targets, a factor that could play in favour of large scale support of biogas projects.

The increasing cost of electricity combined with the availability of grants and development of more attractive financing options, will further see a significant growth in the development of biogas WtE projects in the private sector in South Africa.

Author Mark Tiepelt Director SABIA - South African Biogas Industry Association Phone: 0027 (0) 724454739 e-mail: mark@biogassa.co.za www.biogassa.co.za

English Issue

Biogas Journal | MAY_2014

In biogas processing, it is often believed that:

Electricity from biogas isn’t worth it!

t Visit us a 14 Biogas 20 & D A K U 014 July 2-3, 2 85 Booth #0

That is true!

But only when you convert biomethane to electricity directly on site.

That’s why we upgrade biogas in a way that allows it to be fed into the natural gas grid and be stored long term.

Our reference facility locations include Germany, England, Italy, Thailand, and the U.S. www.sepuran.com

SEPURAN® Green is the winner of the IKU Award – the German Innovation Prize for Climate and the Environment.

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Harvests whatever you want. The JAGUAR. Alternative crops like Sorghum, Cup Plant, Szarvasi grass, Miscanthus and Switchgrass are becoming increasingly popular alongside conventional crops such as Maize, Grass and Green Rye. The versatility of the machine and its front attachments therefore has a bigger impact than ever on capacity utilisation and cost-efficiency. Whether your crops will be used for livestock or to generate alternative energies, the JAGUAR enables you to harvest them cleanly and efficiently â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for a top-quality end product.

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