Following the market entry in France in 2009 with the establishment of two biogas plants, Weltec BioPower GmbH from Vechta, Germany, has received two further orders from the neighbouring country. Together with the French partner CLAIE, the biogas plant manufacturer from Lower Saxony has sold a 104-kilowatt plant to Saint Sigismond, between Nantes and Angers. The plant comprises a fermenter (1071 cubic metre) and a dosing feeder (18 cubic metre), and will be fed with liquid and solid cattle manure, duck manure, and cereals silage.
The efficiency is higher than 75 percent, as the duck coops and parts of the close-by village will be connected to the heat network. In view of this efficiency, the farmer will receive the maximum feed-in tariff. Instead of an excess gas burner, a heat reservoir with a capacity of approximately 70 cubic metre will be installed. The operator has already guaranteed an expansion investment for the plant.
The second premium plant from Weltec BioPower was sold in collaboration with the partner Domaix Energie to Colombey les Choiseul, about 250 kilometer west of Strasbourg. The installation of the biogas plant, which will have a 1571 cubic metre fermenter and a 30 cubic metre dosing feeder, will begin in March 2010. In the 250-kilowatt plant, the digestate from the biowaste will be heated in the hygienisation unit, separated, and finally dried with a belt dryer. The dry matter will be converted to pellets that the operator plans to sell as fuel.
The Weltec plant is designed for liquid and solid cattle manure, leftovers, cereals silage, bakery waste, and flotate fat. Apart from a compensation of the heat, the feed-in tariff for electricity will be 15 cents per kWh el, as this plant, too, boasts an efficiency of 75 percent. Since October 2009, the revised French emission control legislation has greatly simplified both the registration and the approval procedure for biogas plants, resulting in an increased number of biogas-related orders from France. The change in law followed the declaration of the intention to promote biogas projects at the environment summit in Paris in autumn 2007.
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