July 27, 2023 [Market Screener]- The conversion and assembly work at Germany’s largest integrated bio-LNG plant with bio-CO₂ liquefaction – BioEnergie Park Güstrow in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – has just been completed.

The EnviTec Biogas team is now ready to start placing the plant into operation. ‘Now that the last component, the 300,000-litre LCO₂ tank made of pressure vessel steel, has been integrated, we can start the test phase with the newly installed plant components,’ says Frank Hinken, Managing Director of EnviTec Bioenergie Güstrow GmbH.

The raw biogas produced at BioEnergie Park Güstrow is upgraded to natural gas quality with the help of the innovative EnviThan gas upgrading process. The CO₂-enriched permeate (exhaust air) from the gas treatment process contains an extremely small amount of methane and is transferred to the CO₂ liquefaction plant (LCO₂ plant) for further treatment. It is used for the production of liquid carbon dioxide. ‘The bio-CO₂ produced can be used in food and beverage production sectors, for example, or, in greenhouses,’ explains Hinken. The off-gas created during the liquefaction of CO₂, which contains other non-condensable gases such as nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen as well as methane, is fed to the combined heat and power plants at the site, where it is used to generate energy for self-supply. ‘Through this active circular economy, we are making an important contribution to a greener transport sector,’ stresses Jürgen Tenbrink, Chief Technology Officer of EnviTec Biogas AG, which is based in Lohne and Saerbeck.

Once in operation, due late summer this year, the plant will produce 25,000 kg of bio-LNG daily for heavy-duty transport vehicles. This will provide green fuel for more than 50,000,000 lorry kilometres (31,068,550 miles) per year. At the same time, the liquefaction of biomethane is accompanied with the liquefaction of carbon dioxide via the gas treatment process. The liquid carbon dioxide, 15,000 metric tonnes per year generated at food quality, substitutes fossil-based carbon dioxide, significantly improving the CO₂ footprint of the plant.

Information – EnviTec BioEnergie Gustrow GmbH

• Commissioning of Germany’s largest biogas plant, built by EnviTec Biogas, in 2009
• Purchase and transfer to EnviTec Own Investment ownership in 2021
• The aim is to enable the production of 9,600 metric tonnes of bio-LNG (liquefied natural gas) and 15,000 metric tonnes of bio-LCO₂ per year by late summer 2023.
• Previously, the 500-GWh biogas upgrading unit fed biomethane into the 25-bar natural gas network. The former operator required around 400,000 metric tonnes of substrate for this. This was predominantly sweet corn, but also included whole plant silage, cereals and grass silage.
• The new operating concept, input will be reduced to 150,000 metric tonnes per annum, primarily consisting of agricultural residues. Additional CHP units will be ‘docked on’ to supply 3.1 MW_el of power for the plant’s own use. Digestate storage capacities have also been adjusted accordingly.
• The conversion of the Güstrow site required investment in a CO₂ liquefaction plant and an LNG plant for biomethane liquefaction as well as extensive reinvestment in elements such as new roofs and agitators amounting to more than EUR 50 million.

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