BioWend in Lüchow. As part of its Berlin to Munich Energy Tour from September 7 - 17, the Biogas Association’s velomobile stopped off at the BioWend biogas facility in Lüchow, now being operated by agri.capital.
During the visit, the mayor of Lüchow, Mr. Karl-Heinz Schultz, introduced his guests to the energy vision of his community and the Lüchow-Dannenberg region. “We want all our energy needs to be covered entirely by renewable sources. Biogas can make a major contribution to this, particularly since our region is an agricultural one.”
The visitors were given an explanation of the new ideas for the plant – which has recently been reconfigured to allow biomethane to be fed into the gas supply network. Instead of being used to generate power in a CHP, the raw biogas produced is being refined to the quality of natural gas and then fed into the local E.ON Avacon grid.
The improvements, which required additional investments of around 3 million Euros, were made necessary under the German Renewable Energy Law amendments, which rendered the plant (previously run by a consortium of 70 agricultural holdings) uneconomic. The successful conversion puts the biogas facility on a healthy economic footing and will serve as a model for further projects of this type in the future.
The German Biogas Association promotes the advantages and potential of biogas-based energy production under the slogan “Biogas can do it.” The Association’s intention, in the lead up to the 2009 parliamentary elections in Germany, is to establish the biogas sector firmly in the public consciousness as a growth sector capable of generating jobs.