Helping to shape the green energy transition through waste materials and biomethane
EnviTec Biogas is celebrating the initial feed-in from a 417 Nm³/h EnviThan gas upgrading plant, marking its second successfully finalized biomethane project in Slovakia. “Our customer, CITA VIA s.r.o., is upgrading 750 Nm³/h of biogas to biomethane with the plant in the municipality of Ožďany. In the future, the company intends to increase production in the long term to a maximum of 1,300 Nm³/h of biogas,” explains Stefan Laumann, Head of Gas Upgrading at EnviTec Biogas.
The existing biogas plant of the medium-sized agricultural company has been in operation for 14 years and is operated with maize, cattle straw dung and chicken dung. With the addition of the new gas upgrading unit, the plant will continue to generate electricity. “This is now complemented by the production of advanced biomethane from cattle straw and chicken manure,” says Miroslav Kováčik, Head of EnviTec Service in the Czech Republic. “In the long term, however, we will switch to using waste materials only, allowing us to support the green energy transition in Slovakia even more effectively,” says Ing. Viktor Hegedüs, Managing Director of CITA VIA s.r.o.
Efficiency and flexibility were also the decisive reasons for commissioning EnviTec Biogas as the contractual partner. The membrane-based EnviThan plant produced at the Saerbeck site was tested and accepted in the presence of the customer prior to delivery. “Our Factory Acceptance Test, or FAT for short, ensures rapid and efficient commissioning on site and thus saves valuable time and resources,” says Laumann. Short distances – including for possible future service work on the plant – are additionally guaranteed by the nearby Czech subsidiary EnviTec Service s.r.o. in Velké Meziříčí.
Green energy transition in Slovakia and the Czech Republic
Slovakia is aiming to promote the green energy transition. According to the target market analysis of the Energy Export Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the country plans to invest heavily in the expansion of renewable energies over the coming years. According to the analysis, the production of biomethane will play a key role here. A total of €103 million in funding from the EU Recovery Fund is available for the construction of new renewable energy plants. The analysis shows that a total of 34 biogas plants in Slovakia have the potential to produce biomethane. The neighboring country, the Czech Republic – home to EnviTec’s regional branch – also regards biomethane as an alternative to natural gas and aims to advance the decarbonization of the Czech heat supply. According to the Czech Biogas Association (CZBA), the total potential of biomethane from waste is 700 million cubic meters per year. The target by 2035 is around 100 plants.
