biogas

Austrian bioenergy company Biogest has received its first order to build an agricultural biogas plant in the Mayenne region in north western France.

Biogest regards its Charchigné project as a showcase project in that it has the potential to become one of the largest agricultural biogas plants in France and will act as an essential reference plant for future projects, including planned projects in the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Austria.

The plant will cover an area of 3 hectares and have an electrical output of 3.6 MW, fed by agricultural waste and energy crops supplied by about 110 farmers within a radius of 25 kilometres. The energy generated by the biogas plant will be supplied to the national grid and will be able to power approximately 8,500 households.

In addition, heat, in the form of steam, can be provided for neighbouring dairy industry. The project will be able to convert approximately 110,000 tonnes of biological waste into electricity, heat and biological fertiliser each year, thereby avoiding the use of chemical fertilisers. It will utilise Biogest’s PowerRing technology which the company believes has advantages with regard to energy efficiency and operational safety, as well as having a space-saving modular design.

International investment fund Meridiam will act as financing partner while Finergreen has helped with financial structuring of the project.

For additional information:

Biogest