E.ON Denmark launches new 300,000-tpy AD facility

Utility firm E.ON Denmark has opened a 300,000 tonne per year (tpy) organic waste to biogas anaerobic digestion (AD) facility, called Grøngas Vraa.

In a statement, the company said that the 115 million crown ($17.5 million) facility will produce biomethane from manure and organic wastes and is directly connected to the Danish gas network.

The new biogas plant in Vrå , Denmark, will process 300,000 tonnes of biomass annually, of which approximately 250,000 tonnes is expected to be manure that would otherwise have ended up as untreated on fields.

"When we open the taps for the new biogas plant today, we make it easier to convert manure and food scraps to green energy,” said Tore Harritshøj, adm. director of E.ON Denmark.

He added that the plant will also reduce Denmark's CO² emissions by approximately 25,000 tonnes annually.

The biogas plant, which is the size of 12 football fields, is expected to supply the Danish gas grid with approximately 9 million. cubic meters of biomethane. This corresponds to the annual consumption of 4300 cars or 250 buses if they were running on biogas or the gas consumption of 6500 homes.

E.ON noted that there is still a long way to meet Denmark’s policy objectives of converting 50% of the country’s manure into biogas by 2020. With Grøngas online and several new plants due for completion in 2016 it said that barely 15% of Danish manure is now used for biogas production.

The company said that the Grøngas Vraa employs approximately 10 people.