Owner-operated plants
Why do we operate our own biogas plants?
Our profound know-how and our solid financial situation enable us to operate our own plants in addition to building and maintaining biogas and biogas treatment plants for our customers. And we do this successfully: In our home market of Germany, we now operate 81 plants with a total capacity of 70.6 MW. In other European countries, we operate a further eight plants with a capacity of 8.7 MW. But it’s not just the capacity that’s right, the figures are too: Our own operations have reliably generated the highest share of our company’s sales for many years.
How do we operate our own biogas plants?
On a simple partnership basis, and we have been doing so for years. In our home market of Germany, we have been focusing on the purchase of biogas plants built under EEG 2004 and 2009 or RNG plants built under EEG 2004, 2009 and 2012 since 2014. What is really interesting for us are feeding volumes for electricity generation plants of at least 500 kW and for RNG plants from 300 Nm³. Of course, agricultural operations or arable land can also be included. Generally, the plants are then operated in cooperation with partners from agriculture, the energy sector, industry, or the fuel market. Our partnerships always work on an equal footing. At the same time, they are characterized by a clear division of tasks: Each focuses on its strengths. The local partner, for example, provides the site, procures the input materials, and takes care of ongoing operations. During operation, we carry out all necessary maintenance work, take care of biological and technical service, and take over commercial management.
Where do we operate our own biogas plants?
Preferably in Europe, but also in the US and, of course, wherever the conditions are right for us and our partners. We are currently focusing on the markets in the US, France, Spain, and Poland, including plants with our own technology; in addition, we make sure that the legal situation of the plants is ensured, e.g., in the case of planned construction in an industrial area.
What are we achieving with our own operations?
A lot. After all, in this segment we bundle the generation of electricity, heat, and gas in our own biogas plants in Germany and abroad. With a total of 89 plants, we generate an impressive 79.3 MW. Our motivation is the German Buildings Energy Act (Gebäudeenergiegesetz, or GEG for short), which came into force in 2020, but of course also the climate targets set by the German government, particularly in the transport sector. That’s why we are currently concentrating more and more on the production of RNG. For example, we are driving the transformation of transport with our own company, EnviTec Bioenergie Güstrow GmbH, and the liquefaction of RNG into bio-LNG (liquefied natural gas). Since commissioning Germany’s largest bio-LNG liquefaction plant, EnviTec is now acting for the first time as an independent supplier of CO2-free fuel for commercial and heavy-duty transport.