Xergi and Arla Foods partner for biogas plant

In Denmark, dairy firm Arla Foods and biogas company Xergi are developing a new biogas plant to supply Arla's production at Videbæk.

The details of the project have not been disclosed, as approval has not yet been granted.

The plant will convert manure and other waste materials from Arla's own production into 16 million m3 of methane gas. Once completed, the biogas plant is expected to be one of the largest in Denmark.

Xergi will handle project development, construction, operation and maintenance of the facility.

'The initiative should be seen as part of the Arla Foods' climate strategy where our ambition is to reduce our CO2 emissions by 25% by 2020,' says Povl Krogsgaard, senior vice president at Arla Foods. 'We hope that the initiative will benefit the climate as well as farmers and investors. It is, however, a prerequisite that the right framework is in place for biogas, which we are now able to clarify as we have a more precise basis for decisions.'

The plant is slated for completion by 2015, following two years of construction.

'We hope that, with this initiative, we will help to push developments in the biogas industry in Denmark in the right direction and contribute to the government's ambitions of using 50% of animal manures in Denmark for biogas,' says Xergi's chairman Ove Kloch.