Premiere in Romania: the first biogas plant is in Filipeștii de Pădure
Genesis Biopartner aims to put into operation at least ten biogas co-generation plants in Romania in the next 3-4 years. The announcement was made by Michael Dietrich, investor and founder of the company, on the occasion of the commissioning, in Filipeștii de Pădure, of the first Romanian biogas co-generation renewable energy plant. Dietrich also said he wants to build at least three more such stations in Prahova, and is already in negotiations for some locations, which he avoided naming.
“Cogeneration means using both electric and thermal energy. We have 1 MW electric power installed in the inaugurated plant and the equivalent of 1,2 MW thermal power. The functional principle is simple, it's organic mass, which can be green mass, any waste or organic resource," Dietrich said. According to him, the electricity produced in the Filipeștii de Pădure plant is fed into the national grid.
“Thermal energy is converted into steam and goes to the CrisTim cold meats factory. It is the first plant of its kind in Romania, while there are now around 10.000 in operation in Europe, with a total capacity of 5.000 MW. The total value of the investment amounts to 5 million euros, financed exclusively from own funds. We receive three green certificates per MW/h in the grid. In the worst scenario, we hope to recover the investment in 8-10 years”, explained the Genesis Biopartner official, who also said that about 20 jobs have been created in the Filipeștii de Pădure facility. Calculations show that the biogas plant will operate about 8400-8500 hours per year, producing one MW per hour, and will receive about 25.000 green certificates annually.
Genesis Biopartner is a Romanian holding company formed by the partnership of Baupartner Romania and Vireo Energy Sweden. The biogas plant built in Filipeștii de Pădure processes a daily quantity of 49 tons of organic substrate, the raw material being supplied from local land. “We will use maize, sorghum and other crops grown by locals, and in the future we will also be able to use the organic leftovers from CrisTim”, Michael Dietrich added.
The innovation of this project consists in the supply to a partner of the thermal energy produced by the cogeneration plant, the production of baseload electricity, the predictable supply (over 8000 operating hours / year), as well as the possibility of energy (biogas) storage.
The president of CrisTim Group, Radu Timiș, present at the inauguration, said that in 2011, when the idea of building this station was first conceived, CrisTim started out as an equal investor but in the course of time withdrew, becoming only a beneficiary. Radu Timiș explained that the steam received from the biogas plant is about 25% cheaper than that produced on gas and that this plant provides about 30-40% of the steam consumption of the cold meats factory, having already proved its efficiency about a week ago, when there was a breakdown in the natural gas network in the area.
“We are currently carrying out feasibility studies for other locations. We are also looking for other partners to set up biogas and cogeneration power plants in their area. In particular, we are interested in partners who have organic waste or residues from the food industry or industrial partners who have heat consumption”, said Michael Dietrich.
The project was technically carried out by the companies AB Energy and MT Energie, which provided the equipment necessary for the operation of the cogeneration plant, from the treatment of the biogas to its transformation into electricity and heat recovery (AB Energy) and the technology for the fermentation line, as well as the automation of the entire technological flow for biogas production (MT Energie).
Genesis Biopartner – Holding was established in order to invest in the building of a large portfolio of biogas cogeneration power plants throughout Romania, using both a small amount of agricultural green mass and organic waste as renewable energy sources, with a positive effect in creating new jobs and protecting the environment.