An eco-friendly business offering economic security is the innovative new service now offered to biogas plant operators in Germany by the international plant construction company EnviTec Biogas AG. Two decades after the adoption of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), the first subsidy period will expire for an estimated 9,500 biogas plants in Germany over the next few years. Many plant operators are therefore facing the existential question of whether – and how – to invest in their plant going forward. “This is exactly where our long-term, all-inclusive model comes in, which addresses the potential for gas upgrading and bio LNG contract liquefaction,” explains EnviTec CEO Olaf von Lehmden.
With its entry into the production of advanced fuels at BioEnergie Güstrow, Germany’s largest integrated bio LNG liquefaction plant, the Lower Saxony-based EnviTec is opening up a lucrative future field of business with attractive opportunities both for its own Group and its customers alike. “We’re making the most of the recent entry into force of the RED II Directive and the climate change mitigation targets for transport in order to accelerate the production of advanced fuels and ensure that our customers reap the benefits,” von Lehmden continues. By 2030, anyone placing fuels on the market must have cut the GHG emissions in their products by 25 percent. Von Lehmden: “Switching to low-carbon bio LNG (liquefied natural gas) can help here – and we’ll be starting production of bio LNG at our plant in Güstrow from autumn 2022.” Moving into gas upgrading and the subsequent potential offered by turning biomethane into bio LNG is therefore a long-term strategy for ensuring the future economic viability of biogas plants.
Operators who decide to convert their biogas plant accordingly can pick and choose from a number of modular options to do so. “One option we offer is to pay customers a fixed price for the biomethane generated, thereby ensuring that we bear all of the entrepreneurial risk,” von Lehmden explains. As a second option, the company also sells capacity at its own liquefaction plant on a contract basis, which allows customers to market the bio LNG produced themselves and so benefit directly from the lucrative GHG quotas. “This is a flexible yet fully integrated approach to marketing that offers the solid foundation which is necessary for financing gas upgrading plants,” explains EnviTec CFO Jörg Fischer.
During the presentation of this new sales strategy, the Management Board also explained that this contract model for bio LNG liquefaction is the first of its kind in Germany.
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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 and biogas upgrading plants as well as their commissioning. The company takes charge of biological and technical services on demand, and also offers operational management services. EnviTec operates 75 of its own plants, making it the largest biogas producer in Germany. EnviTec’s business interests also include the direct marketing of upgraded biomethane as well as the marketing of electricity and balancing energy. The company is represented in 16 countries worldwide by its own companies, sales offices, strategic partners and joint ventures. In 2020, the EnviTec Group generated revenue of EUR 192.3 million and EBIT of EUR 17.2 million. The Group currently employs 477 people worldwide. EnviTec Biogas AG has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since July 2007.