Viaspace completes engineering, design of biogas plant
Viaspace has completed the engineering and design work for a 2MW biogas power plant in Papua New Guinea for Clean Energy Solutions Pacific (CES).
CES, based in Salt Lake City, US, is an independent power producer focused on developing power for frontier and emerging markets with experience in project development and management, engineering, and construction of power plants.
The CES project located in Papua New Guinea is to own and operate a biogas power plant and giant king grass plantation that delivers electricity to the grid under a power purchase agreement from the government electricity company.
The biogas power plant was designed by Viaspace to meet the daily load profile for the utility customer in Papua New Guinea.
The load profile and the comparison of peak load to average load determined the size of the digesters, the amount of biogas storage, and the number and size of the engine generators.
This information plus the biogas production from giant king grass determined the size of the plantation needed to provide 100% of the power.
To complete the project Viaspace underwent a wide range of engineering and design work, including developing a giant king grass feeding system, a hydrolysis system, primary and secondary digesters, biogas treatment and storage solutions, a digestate handling system, and calculating construction and operating costs.
As the power plant will be located in a remote area, consideration was given to a straightforward design with low maintenance and ready availability of spare parts.
The engine generators, electronics and control system, pumps, and gas cleanup system will be integrated into 12m container modules, which will be assembled and tested before shipment to Papua New Guinea.
The Viaspace report to CES included a detailed parts list of all major equipment with vendors identified and multiple quotations for each piece of equipment sourced from the US and Europe.
CES chief operations officer McCabe Cox says the plant project will provide badly needed base load power for the remote area, and that the clean and renewable plant and plantation will provide needed jobs for locals.
