EnviTec Biogas announces commissioning of first EnviThan plant in Slovakia

The result of ongoing, neighborly service efforts speaks for itself: After 18 years in the Eastern European market, the team at the Czech Service subsidiary of EnviTec Biogas AG is proud to announce the completion of the first gas upgrading plant in Slovakia. “Our EnviThan plant in Bierovce, Slovakia, has just successfully injected biomethane into the local gas grid,” reports Stefan Laumann, Head of Gas Upgrading at EnviTec Biogas. 

The EnviThan gas upgrading plant, which has a capacity of 449 Nm³/h of biomethane, was installed together with a raw gas treatment system at an existing biogas plant. The input material in Bierovce consists of 70% food waste and organic industrial waste, poultry manure, and corn and grass silage. The project is owned by ENERGE s.r.o. “With this plant, our customer aims to expand its portfolio of flexible electricity supplies for local grid operators,” says Miroslav Kováčik, head of the Czech EnviTec subsidiary. 

EnviTec was able to convince ENERGE s.r.o. not only with its long-standing technical expertise in the EnviThan membrane technology for gas upgrading, developed in collaboration with Evonik Industries, but also – and most importantly – with its logistical efficiency. The Czech subsidiary of EnviTec Service s.r.o. is conveniently located in Velké Meziříčí, Czech Republic, directly on the D1 motorway between Prague and Brno. This will enable quick delivery of spare parts and also save money by maintenance done by our experienced Czech-Slovak EnviTec Service team.

Second gas processing project in Ožďany already under construction

The team on site value their collaboration with Slovakian experts: “By awarding the contract for the construction of the feed-in station and booster compressor to a regional provider, our customer is supporting the regional economy and ensuring time-optimized processes, not only in communication and construction work, but also in later maintenance,” says Miroslav Kováčik. “We are proud to achieve methane qualities of 98% with our EnviThan technology,” says Laumann. The high methane content of the biomethane makes it largely unnecessary to add fossil propane, despite the high calorific value required in the gas grid. 

EnviTec Biogas is implementing a second gas upgrading project in Ožďany. The recently signed project involves the addition of a 417 Nm³/h EnviThan plant. “The biogas plant, which has been in operation for 14 years, is fueled by cow and poultry manure,” Laumann adds. However, the customer, the agricultural company CITA VIA s.r.o., plans to gradually switch to using waste materials as input in the future. The EnviThan gas upgrading plant is already being manufactured in Saerbeck. With this plant, the customer intends to process 750 Nm³/h of biogas into biomethane and eventually expand to a maximum production of 1,300 Nm³/h of biogas. 

Driving the green transformation

Slovakia is pushing ahead with its green energy transition. As outlined in the target market analysis by the Energy Export Initiative of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the country intends to make significant investments in expanding renewable energy in the coming years. Biomethane production is expected to play a central role in this development. A total of €103 million from the EU Recovery Fund has been earmarked to support the construction of new renewable energy facilities.

“These expansion plans are creating promising market opportunities for us – something already reflected in the increasing number of inquiries from potential customers,” says Maurice Markerink, Managing Director of EnviTec Anlagenbau.

In 2021, 96 agricultural biogas plants in Slovakia supplied 470 GWh of electricity to the grid, receiving €42.6 millionin total feed-in tariffs. According to the analysis, 34 biogas plants in the country have the potential to be upgraded for biomethane production.

For more information, please visit: https://www.envitec-biogas.com