GORDEMITZ BIOMETHANE PLANT COOPERATION PROJECT - UTS REFERENCE PROJECT - Anaergia ...
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UTS REFERENCE PROJECT
GORDEMITZ BIOMETHANE
PLANT COOPERATION PROJECT
WIN-WIN-WIN
UTS REFERENCE PROJECT
The story behind this project is were progressing nicely. But then, the world of natural gas in the far from the input of solids to the gas
so unusual that it would make an in 2014, with the construction acti- future: for example, whilst what output at the tank. But would this
exciting Hollywood screenplay. vities in full swing, there was some are known as green gases currently actually work out?
terrible news: agri.capital, the client account for less than one percent
It‘s about rise and fall, a long spell and investor, had gone bankrupt! of total natural gas consumption Well it did and it has actually led
of hardship, adversaries who beco- The work was stopped immediately today, this ratio will be reversed to a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for all
me allies, fighting for what is good and the unfinished project became within a few decades – with consi- the stakeholders.
and meaningful, and ... a happy part of the insolvent estate. This derable effects on our business and
ending. These are not exactly the was a very unpleasant situation for the entire energy sector.” Tobias Anzer, a sales engineer with
words you would normally expect everyone involved, including the Schmack said: “Naturally, I was a
when describing a biomethane plant neighbors who could do nothing but So now back to the project: from bit sceptical at first. We planned a
project! watch this promising project gradu- an abandoned ruin to a sign of hope first appointment where our ‘ter-
ally fall into decline. in no time! ritories’ were staked out. Both si-
LET‘S START AT THE BEGINNING des had to compromise and work
The chances of a turnaround and A MINOR HURDLE together. But this actually resulted
One step at a time. a fresh start were slim. But then in a good solution for the customer,
suddenly, in 2018, two experienced As we mentioned earlier, the ori- which we are currently implemen-
Let‘s start in 2010. Back then, when biogas entrepreneurs from the Ger- ginal project was planned by UTS ting. What I hear from our project
EEG 2009, the German Federal Re- man Westphalia district discovered Biogastechnik in 2010. The com- team is that they see the collabora-
newable Energy Sources Act, was in the project for themselves, bought pany was a direct competitor of tion as very good, professional and
force, the biogas world was in full it, and energetically started to plan Schmack Biogas GmbH, a subsidi- based on trust. We will definitely
bloom and building biogas plants was its reactivation. Their initial plan ary of the Viessmann Group, which, continue this in future projects.”
still quite attractive. However, the in- was to extend the existing permits, like UTS, built biogas plants to in-
troduction of EEG 2012 brought an revise the concept, adapt the tech- dustrial standards. So actually, the Donato Cristaldi, Head of Sales &
end to this booming growth. Whe- nology, and continue building the companies had been competing for Service at UTS, is also enthusi-
reas some 4,400 new biogas plants project on the basis of the existing the same customers for many ye- astic about the cooperation with
were built from 2008 to 2012, this built structure. However, there was ars. Schmack: “Our team, consisting of
fell to just over 900 in the compara- yet another unexpected turn of Christian Friedl, Thomas Braun and
ble period from 2012 to 2016. events shortly before the project Now fate can be so cruel: when myself, and our colleagues from
was to be restarted together with BALANCE restarted the project, a Schmack, from Mr Anzer to the ma-
It was in this first period, between UTS. The Westphalian investors de- new consortium suddenly emerged. nagement including Mr Götz, all got
2010 and 2013, that the plant near cided to sell the project again. After a total of nine years in which along together right from the be-
Gordemitz (10km north-east of Leip- UTS had worked on this project ginning. It did not take long for us
zig) was designed, as one of the last And, as a result, in late 2019, with varying levels of intensity, the to realise that the Schmack team
of its size. At the time, the project the plant became the property of new owner BALANCE brought in the were also professionals who, des-
was commissioned by the Münster BALANCE Erneuerbare Energien company now known as Schmack pite their great belief in their own
based company agri.capital, which GmbH. Biogas Service as an established technologies, were open to the UTS
was then one of the largest biogas partner. Would it be everyone with technology approach that had al-
plant operators in the market, while BALANCE ERNEUERBARE each other, or against each other, ready been planned.
UTS Biogastechnik, as the company ENERGIEN GMBH? that was the question. However,
was known at the time, was awarded after a thorough introduction of all I think both parties were pleasantly
the job of designing and constructing Now we just need to take a short the parties involved, it soon beca- surprised by the honest and open
the plant. detour in order to give you a better me clear that as far as the custo- interaction and by what the other
view of the big picture. BALANCE mer BALANCE was concerned, and party could contribute to the pro-
PAINFUL is a subsidiary of the VNG group given the tight time schedule and ject. It quickly became clear to
of companies, which is active th- budget, the only option would be everyone that the project could
Initially everything went according to roughout Europe, and has 20 sub- for UTS and Schmack to work to- be brought about more safely and
plan, the ground-breaking ceremony sidiaries in the energy market with gether. quickly by working together than
was held in 2013, and it was planned a focus on the gas industry. Based without the other party.”
that the project would be completed on its group strategy “VNG 2030+”, Schmack was to construct and
and the plant connected to the elec- VNG has been investing in the coordinate the entire plant as the So what started out as a forced
tricity grid and the natural gas grid energy transition and the future. general contractor and UTS would marriage has evolved into a true
in 2015. The project was running The group‘s website says: “Con- be responsible for fitting out and biogas romance.
smoothly and the building activities sequently, we are also focusing on constructing the raw biogas line,
UTS Reference Project Gordemitz | 17
UTS REFERENCE PROJECT
The entire set of equipment is desi-
gned to achieve the efficient, trou-
ble-free, economical, and above all
safe operation of the plant through-
out the fermentation process.
ALL‘S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
The Gordemitz plant became opera-
tional by late 2020, and it will start
to actively contribute to environ-
mental and climate protection by
end of January 2021. This has been
a challenging project, which, given
its rather uncommon start and pro-
ject set-up, initially required a lot of
good will.
THE PROJECT at the substrate which is fermented any obstructions and with low ener- At the start of this article, we referred
to biogas in the plant. The substrate gy consumption. If required, liquid to a happy ending. UTS, Schmack,
In short, the goal is to build a bio- consists of renewable raw materials manure can also be supplied and in- BALANCE, and Mr. Kellermann from
methane plant which will enable such as corn and grass silage, as troduced via a preliminary pit. greenValue managed to combine
BALANCE GmbH to feed approx. well as approx. 10-15% of dry chi- their competences and capacities to
700Nm³/h of climate-neutral bio- cken manure from regional farms. 14 PSM MIXERS optimum effect. This made it possib-
gas of natural gas quality into Some 45,000-50,000 metric tons le that the project was completed “in
the natural gas grid per hour. The of input materials are processed in The contents of the five digesters are time and according to budget” and
“green gas” is stored in the grid, so the plant under full load per year, mixed by a total of 14 state-of-the- at a consistently high technical le-
to speak, making it available for use resulting in approx. 700Nm³ of bio- art UTS PSM mixers with gearless vel. Donato Cristaldi, Head of Sales
all over Germany. methane being produced or fed into direct drive and intelligent DMC con- & Service at UTS said: “Achieving
the grid per hour, enough to supply trol. These mixers not only provide a goal sometimes takes stamina. I
To make this possible, a gas treat- approx. 3,000 to 4,000 households the necessary thrust and mixing, but am very happy with how success-
ment plant from the Schwelm com- with energy. thanks to their power consumption ful the project has been and how
pany brings the raw biogas from the of approx. 7 - 9kW, they are also one well we have been working together
biogas plant to a methane content of 5 DIGESTERS of the most energy-efficient mixing with Schmack. The Gordemitz plant
approx. 97%. The biomethane can systems on the market. means a lot for many colleagues who
then be taken from the grid and used Overall, the plant consists of two already worked for UTS when it was
wherever this makes sense. For ex- pre-digesters and three main diges- FURTHER HIGHLIGHTS first planned, and we are proud and
ample, as a climate-neutral fuel for ters. In 2014, UTS Biogastechnik happy to see this plant finally go into
public transport (natural gas-fuelled provided the two pre-digesters with A total of 17 Service Boxes Pro enab- operation, even if it is six years later
buses), as well as for “green” heat concrete ceilings in order to ensure le easy and safe access to the mixing than planned.”
and power generation in CHP plants intensive mixing, proper desulphu- equipment at any time and feature
of hospitals, swimming pools, indus- risation, a stable gas pressure and integrated and frost-protected over- The plant will soon be connected to
trial companies or in district heating low heat losses, while excluding any pressure/underpressure safety de- the mains in Gordemitz and it is a
networks. weather influences. vices, as well as “clean” gas tapping showcase project in many respects.
points far above the substrate level. Not only that, but in the end, there
This makes the plant a further com- Two Havelberger solids feed-in sys- Pump structures with progressive will only be winners: BALANCE
ponent of the energy transition th- tems with capacities of 120m³ and cavity pumps and a UTS ZPS (cen- as an operator, UTS & Schmack
rough green gas for BALANCE and 150m³ and the conveyor technology tral pumping station) and numerous as contractor, local farmers, gas
an example of how the future can be that is typical of UTS plants feed two pumping options in all directions en- consumers and, last but not least,
shaped to achieve a WIN-WIN-WIN pre-digesters and two of three main sure sufficient operational flexibility. the climate. WIN-WIN-WIN.
situation from both a climate and an digesters with solid substrate.
environmental point of view. Two UTS FSP-B 78/15 separators en- All that remains is for the heroes of
Besides being very robust, the Ha- sure high solids separation of alrea- the film to ride off into the sunset
THE PLANT velberger scraper chain conveyors dy fermented material and enable together...
with milling rollers and the installed the dry matter content to be regu-
Well it’s large, as the performance conveyor technology offer the ad- lated by returning the filtrate to the
data suggests, but compactly built. vantage that they can convey fib- digesters or, optionally, to the fer-
But let‘s start from the beginning: rous material into the tanks without mentation product storage.
18 | UTS Reference Project Gordemitz UTS Reference Project Gordemitz | 19
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