Biogas plant manufacturer Weltec Biopower GmbH has made the next step in its successful export strategy, as together with the partner Domaix Energie in Alsace, the company from Germany has started rolling out four agricultural biogas plant projects in France which will equal 1,6 MW of “green” energy.

Apart from agricultural substrates, the biogas plants, whose construction has already started, will use sludge and food leftovers. This documents the trend that French biogas plants are increasingly fermenting industrial leftovers. Since the introduction of the separation and utilisation of kitchen waste from large catering establishments in France at the end of 2011, organic waste from schools and company cafeterias must be used for the production of energy.

Accordingly, Weltec will integrate hygienisation units in order to utilise the substances of category 3 according to the EU directive. Another common feature concerns the use of the heat: In all four biogas plants, the residual heat will be used in a digestate dryer in order to reduce the amount of liquid manure and market the dried digestate.

Thanks to the heat utilisation concept, the four biogas plants have an efficiency of at least 70%, enabling the operators to benefit from the heat and power bonus, which is up to EUR 0.04/kWh in France.

One of the reasons why the four French investors opted for Weltec Biopower is that the plant engineering company from Lower Saxony is renowned for its individualised implementation. Thus, the two 600-kW plants that are currently being built use similar substrates but differ in terms of the composition and concepts. For this reason, the plant in the department of Charente makes use of a 3,000-m³ stainless-steel digester, while the other 600-kW plant in Burgundy, central France, will have two digesters with a capacity of 2,000 m³ each.

The two other plants will have an electrical output of 190 kW and 255 kW, respectively. The smaller Weltec biogas plant in Lorraine comprises a 1,500-m³ stainless-steel digester and will be loaded with cattle manure from the operator’s farm as well as whole plant silage and food leftovers. Additionally, the 255-kW plant will utilise agro-industrial waste.

However, Weltec Biopower does not only ensure technical solutions, but also establishes financing contacts if necessary. Two of the biogas plants that are currently being built are funded by the farmers. The Weltec partner Domaix Energie from Gundershoffen, Alsace, and Methanor, a French biogas fund, are involved in the financing of the other two plants.

Domaix Energie was established in 2005 and has been a partner of Weltec Biopower ever since. Since the beginning of 2013, Martin Nippé has headed the operations of Domaix.