Can the production of raw gas on several farm plants with the transport of raw gas to upgrading plants be an alternative to large biogas plants with their own upgrading plants? This was the question we asked NORSØK and SINTEF in 2021.
There is an increasing desire for biogas plants around the rural areas. There are a number of farmers who are considering farm facilities, while others are looking alone or together with others at the possibility of facilities for a limited geographical area with an expected production of 15-30 GWh. This corresponds to 1.5 -3 million liters of diesel. For the facilities, high investment costs for upgrading facilities and distance to the market for the gas are a challenge.
An alternative to upgrading the individual facilities is compression of raw gas on flakes and transport of the gas to a central facility for upgrading. This project has initially sought an answer to whether this is a solution that can theoretically be implemented, be it both technically and with regard to investment, logistics and operating costs.
The project owner has been Mære agricultural school, project management has been carried out by Ingvar Kvande at NORSØK and project partners have been Ecopro, Møre Biogass, Svanem Biogass, VEAS and TINE.
Many thanks to Innovation Norge and Sparebank1SMN for supporting the implementation.
Main conclusions:
It is technically possible to transport compressed, raw biogas.
The gas is thought to be produced decentralized and then transported as raw gas from the biogas plants (Møre biogas, Svanem Biogas and Mære) to Ecogas' upgrading plant in Verdal.
Investment, logistics and operating costs are calculated in the value chain between the biogas plant and the arrival upgrading plant. The costs associated with transporting the gas are the most important variable.
Specific cost before upgrading (2021):
- Mære agricultural school -> NOK 0.66/kWh
- Svanem Biogas (Lake Hellandsjøen) -> NOK 0.86/kWt
- Biogas Møre (Åndalsnes) -> NOK 1.01/kWt
The concept is not feasible based on the underlying assessments and the current subsidy framework for the production and use of biogas.
The report from SINTEF can be read in its entirety here.
SINTEF presented the conclusions at the closing conference on 30.11.2021 and you can read this here.
Reference book for establishment
Project manager Ingvar Kvande in NORSØK has extensive experience in the design of farm plants for biogas and in the project has contributed to making a reference work for anyone thinking of establishing a plant (the report is for approval in NORSOEK).
This report deals with the preliminary design of a farm biogas plant and is intended to act as a reference work for those thinking of establishing their own plant. Establishing a farm biogas plant is relatively extensive, and there is a need to make a detailed survey of the resource base and the possibilities for using produced energy and bioresidue. One must particularly consider the infrastructure for fertilizer up to the outlet to the biogas plant, as this is the most important basis for possible production.
There are a number of differences between suppliers and the solutions they offer. Therefore, request references and/or assessments for the points listed in this document.
Establishing a farm biogas plant also requires dealing with many different public bodies with many different requirements that must be met. The requirements and step by step which bodies and clarifications are made are structured.
