EnviTec Biogas obtains license for biogas upgrading from Greenlane Biogas

Huge potential for biomethane in Germany

Lohne, February 10, 2010 – EnviTec Biogas AG and Greenlane Biogas, a subsidiary of the Swedish - New Zealand owned Flotech Group, have signed a license agreement for the manufacturing, construction and sales of biogas upgrading plants. EnviTec Biogas, Europe’s leading manufacturer and operator of biogas plants, will offer Greenlane’s proprietary technology for the upgrading of biogas to natural gas standards in Germany and other European countries. The process used is pressurised water scrubbing. By cleaning the raw biogas the methane content of the raw biogas is increased from approx. 55 percent to at least 96 percent. Conditioned that way, the resulting final product gas can be fed directly into the public natural gas grid and is used right where it is needed: at the consumer. The process is suitable to be used in both small scale and large industrial plants, and has been marketed worldwide by Greenlane Biogas since 1990.

“Being the technological leader in the biogas sector, we are committed to using the most profitable refinement technology,” says Kunibert Ruhe, CTO of EnviTec Biogas. “The combination of Greenlane Biogas’ engineering know-how and our expertise in large scale projects provides a synergy that increases our vertical integration. At the same time, it strengthens our competitive position in the field of biogas upgrading to a large extend”.

“EnviTec holds a clear leadership position in its markets,” says Greenlane’s CEO, Steve Broadbent, “and we are happy to be part of a cooperation that renders biogas projects an enormous advantage providing an integrated solution.” The biogas upgrading process will be marketed under the label “EnviTec biogas upgrading purified by Greenlane”.

The market for the feeding of biogas into the natural gas grid is a relatively young market, which has huge potential. By 2020 Germany aims to substitute about six billion cubic metres of natural gas by this renewable alternative. The German Energy Agency (dena) estimates that up to 2,000 new feed-in biogas plants would have to be built to reach this goal. At this stage, Germany has approximately 30 such plants. The new federal government has already expressed its commitment to biogas. Apart from subsidising electricity and heat from biogas, the government aims to expand the use of biogas as a natural gas substitute and fuel.

EnviTec Biogas offers gas refinement plants with capacity ratings from 500 Nm³ (this equates to 1 MWel.) upwards and aims to increase its market share in this segment significantly. Several projects of this size are currently at the planning or approval stage. After all, buyers of smaller gas refinement plants also stand to benefit from the experience gained by EnviTec together with Greenlane Biogas in the construction of the world’s largest biogas feed-in plant in Güstrow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. There the “NAWARO BioEnergie Park” with a thermal output of 55 MW will cover the energy requirements of a town with a population of 40,000 inhabitants.
By marketing its own biogas upgrading EnviTec Biogas demonstrates that the company is constantly working on optimizing the profitability of biogas plant technology through research and development. “We have got a lot of ideas in mind that could lead to efficiency improvements in the production of biogas”, says Kunibert Ruhe. “Ideas that will become reality in the near future.”

About Greenlane Biogas and the Flotech Group
Greenlane Biogas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Flotech, the leading worldwide developer and supplier of technology for upgrading biogas to renewable natural gas for use in pipelines and vehicle fuel. Flotech is also renowned for its offshore oil & gas expertise and for fuel gas compression systems delivered to the electricity generation sector worldwide, mainly through its distribution agreement with General Electric. Flotech has more than 20 years of global experience upgrading biogas, with installations in France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Sweden Canada and the United States. Greenlane technology is used in the world’s largest plant for upgrading biogas, currently being Güstrow Germany, which was delivered by EnviTec. The production of gas in this plant replaces approximately 40 million litres of gasoline each year, if compared on the basis of clean vehicle fuel.

About EnviTec Biogas AG
EnviTec Biogas AG covers the entire value chain for the production of biogas - including the planning and turnkey construction of biogas plants as well as their commissioning. The company provides the biological and technical service and also offers the full plant and operating management. In Güstrow, in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, EnviTec built the world’s largest plant for the production of biogas to natural gas standards with a thermal output of 55 megawatts. In addition, the company also operates its own biogas plants. Today, the company is represented in more than 15 countries throughout Europe and as well in India and South Korea. In 2008 EnviTec generated revenues of EUR 101 million and EBIT of EUR 3.2 million. The EnviTec Group currently has about 400 employees. Since July 2007 EnviTec is listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Company Contact: Katrin Selzer
EnviTec Biogas AG
Tel: +49 25 74 88 88 810
E-Mail: k.selzer@envitec-biogas.de

Press Contact:
Britta Cirkel, Christina Siebels
HOSCHKE & CONSORTEN Public Relations GmbH
Tel: +49 40 36 90 50- 56 /-58
E-Mail: b.cirkel@hoschke.de; c.siebels@hoschke.de