MT-Energie’s First Biogas Plant in England is Commissioned
With the commissioning of the biogas plant at Barfoot Energy, the North German biogas plant producer, MT-Energie, has successfully achieved market entry into the UK within the space of a year. + + + The 1 MW (megawatt) plant, situated close to the seaside resort of Bognor Regis, has two digesters and a secondary digester.
The digester residue is collected in an adjoining storage tank. The plant is predominantly run with the waste from sweet corn production. Other substrates include waste from vegetable production as well as maize silage.
“We are very pleased that the construction of the new biogas plant has gone so smoothly and would like to thank Barfoot Energy for their collaborative cooperation”, emphasises Ute Koners, UK Project and Sales Manager at MT-Energie. The project enjoys a high level of sustainability thanks to the use of waste materials from vegetable production and the two-stage separation of the digester residue.
“Our philosophy is based on the long-term profitability and the technical reliability of biogas plants”, explains Dr. Holger Schmitz, who is responsible for overseas business on the MT-Energie Executive Board. MT-Energie works together with strong regional partners to guarantee this. “During the course of the initial projects within the UK, we were able to gather experience in terms of any special requirements (e.g. health & safety, risk assessment) to ensure that we are best prepared for the new projects that lie ahead of us”, emphasises Ute Koners.
Currently another MT-Energie project is being commissioned and further projects are at the planning stage so that, notwithstanding the feed-in tariffs not meeting expectations, positive further developments are anticipated in the market.
With its new headquarters in 2008, MT-Energie set the stage for the production of biogas plants throughout Europe. Production capacities and the modern logistics centre are optimally designed for the construction of biogas plants overseas. This means that the North German biogas specialist is able to construct approx. 150 biogas plants annually within Europe. Thereby MT-Energie is relying on a significant production depth and value creation chain so that the in-house components that have been tried and tested over many years will be used in all MT-Energie plants.
