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Schmack to Build Largest Renewable Natural Gas Plant in Europe

Wednesday, 25 July 2007

Germany, Schwandorf

Schmack Biogas plans to build a 4 MW biogas plant for gas feed-in

Joint investment with E.ON Ruhrgas and E.ON Bayern

Schmack Biogas AG, together with E.ON Ruhrgas and E.ON Bayern, plans to build Europe’s largest biogas plant, which will feed gas into the natural gas grid and be operated with renewable resources. The plant will have a total capacity of 10 MWgas, equivalent to an electrical output 4 MWel. Construction of the plant will start in mid-2007, with the start of biogas production scheduled for the end of December 2007.

At present, most newly built biogas plants in Germany have a capacity of 150 kW to 500 kW, which means that the new plant will boast a capacity that is several times higher. It is designed for the fermentation of some 61,500 tonnes of natural resources per year, from which approx. 16 million cubic metres of biogas can be produced based on current state of the art technology.

Schmack Energie Holding GmbH will be responsible for planning, construction and operation of the plant, while E.ON Bayern W?rme GmbH will market the heat and E.ON Bioerdgas GmbH will market and feed in the biogas. Each of the three partners will contribute one third to the total investment volume of approx. EUR 15.8 million ($US21.8 million).

The plant will exclusively be operated with natural resources, which will be supplied by farmers from Schwandorf and its environs. This is the first time that the farmers have the opportunity to invest in the plant and to benefit from its revenues. Compared to other biogas plants of a similar size, the area needed for cultivation will be reduced by one third thanks to a new kind of crop rotation. A diverse crop rotation not only reduces the competition with the land needed for the cultivation of foodstuffs but also increases the fertility and health of the soil.

The plant will effectively increase the use of renewable fuels in German vehicles as the country has more than 54,000 natural gas vehicles on its roads with numbers growing at the rate of 40% each year.

Source: NGV Global