The investor will also serve as the operator of the 2.4-MW plant, which is to go live in spring 2014.
This is the first order that WELTEC has received from Belgium.
The biogas plant, based in in the district of Limburg, will generate 19 GWh every year and will provide power for the production facilities of textile manufacturer Spin-group BV. The company makes special carpet yarns using a polymerisation process.
The generated heat will be utilised directly on site and the digestate will be extracted directly from the 2,000m3 second-stage-digester in order to be dried with the entire heat produced by the plant. The dry fertiliser will then be sold to fruit and winegrowers across the border.
Initially, most of the employed substances will consist of maize silage (about 20,000 t). However, the operator will gradually replace the maize with other renewable substrates and agricultural leftovers. A mix from grease separators and a pre-mixed, ready-to-use substrate will account for another major portion of the input. Apart from plant residue, this mix will also contain fats and vegetable waste. Additionally, the two bioreactors of a capacity of 4,700m3 each will be fed with soap water from biodiesel production and cereals prune. This substrate mix is typical for Belgium, where biogas digesters have always been charged with diverse mixtures.
Apart from the stainless-steel digesters, the plant equipment comprises a second-stage-digester and two 80m3 dosing feeders. Besides the separation and the two combined heat and power (CHP) plants, the MULTIMix, which further shreds the input material prior to the entry into the digester, also comes from WELTEC.
The EU has set a goal to raise the share of renewable energy in Belgium energy consumption to 13 per cent by 2020.The proportion of regenerative energies amounted to 3 per cent in 2008 and is now about 5 per cent.