The German biogas plant construction company WELTEC Biopower is building a biogas plant at Jeppo in Finland which is expected to start producing biomethane as early as autumn 2013. The biomethane will be refined to the quality of natural gas and will be suitable for a variety of purposes as well as fuel for Finnish natural gas stations.
The modular design of the plant allows for the realisation of the project within a short period of time and the components such as the fermenter, pump and agitator technology, constructed in-house, are used alongside the separation and sanitation technologies. Operation is via a control system developed specially by WELTEC for the optimal interaction of the components.
The three 4,000 cubic meter fermenters and the two receiver containers are made of stainless steel which contributes to the quick and safe completion of the plant. The company has drawn on its experience from the construction of industrial biomethane refineries in Könnern and Arneburg which were visited by Finnish investors and operators in advance. The company has also integrated an in-house innovation for the feeding of substrate known as the MULTIMix. This enables fibrous input materials such as grass silage, straw or co-substrate to be disintegrated and decomposed excellently into biogas by the action of bacteria. There is also the option for a foreign body separation upstream of the pump and stirring systems. The new feeding system reduces the stress on the stirring system as well as wear on the plant itself. The plant operator can also become more flexible in the choice of input materials including cheap but difficult-to-process substrates.
In the initial phase of production only wastewater, grass and straw will be used as fermentation substrates as well as manure from three local pig sties. In the future however the plant will also be processing fox and mink excrements from a nearby fur farm. A coordinated manure and fertiliser management strategy will assure that sufficiently high quality fertiliser for local farmers is available and will thereby contribute to the nutritional supply of surrounding fields while observing the statutory limits on nitrogen so that ground water isn’t overburdened with nitrate.
Finland is increasingly relying on their own energy resources in order to decrease dependency on imported energy and this has become especially important since the trade deficit increased by 40 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year. Unlike Norway, Finland does not have any access to substantial oil, gas or coal reserves and therefore is reliant on biomass and nuclear. In 2011 rich biomass resources meant that power generated from biomass exceeded that of nuclear power. The country is expecting to increase its biogas plants in the near future, particularly with regard to inputs from the waste industry. Finland’s Association for Foreign Trade has reported that over 30 biogas plants are currently in the planning pipeline.
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