Bioenergy Insight Sept/Oct 2014

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 Volume 5 • Issue 5

Wooden it be lovely When will Canada look closer to home when it comes to renewable energy consumption?

One of a kind

The Atikokan Generating Station in Ontario has been transformed into a biomass power plant

Regional focus: bioenergy in Canada

Port of partnerships

biomass meets

market Welcome to the port of Amsterdam. Where biomass meets market. The port of Amsterdam has the ambition to grow in a sustainable way. As second-largest coal port of Europe we have all the facilities and experience to storage, tranship and process biomass. Amsterdam has a unique, logistical location within the world largest international, energy hub ARA (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp). Amsterdam has also excellent connections for transit to the hinterland.

The port of Amsterdam offers a dynamic international hub and achieves this by closely cooperating with partners in the business, city and region.

Want to know more about the port of Amsterdam where all kinds of biomass meets the market? Go to www.portofamsterdam.nl or contact Port of Amsterdam Commercial Division, Cluster Energy directly via lex.de.ridder@portofamsterdam.nl

contents Bioenergy

Contents Issue 5 • Volume 5 September/October 2014 Horseshoe Media Limited Marshall House 124 Middleton Road, Morden, Surrey SM4 6RW, UK www.bioenergy-news.com PUBLISHER Margaret Dunn Tel: +44 (0)208 687 4143 margaret@bioenergy-news.com EDITOR Keeley Downey Tel: +44 (0)20 8687 4183 keeley@bioenergy-news.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Natasha Spencer Tel: +44 (0)20 8687 4146 natasha@horseshoemedia.com STAFF WRITER Daniel Traylen Tel: +44 (0)20 8687 4126 daniel@horseshoemedia.com INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGER Anisha Patel Tel: +44 (0) 203 551 5752 anisha@bioenergy-news.com NORTH AMERICA SALES REPRESENTATIVE Matt Weidner +1 610 486 6525 mtw@weidcom.com PRODUCTION Alison Balmer Tel: +44 (0)1673 876143 alisonbalmer@btconnect.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES £150/€210/$275 for 6 issues per year.

Contact: Lisa Lee Tel: +44 (0)20 8687 4160 Fax: +44 (0)20 8687 4130 marketing@horseshoemedia.com Follow us on Twitter: @BioenergyInfo

No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in any form by any mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or other means without the prior written consent of the publisher.

Whilst the information and articles in Bioenergy Insight are published in good faith and every effort is made to check accuracy, readers should verify facts and statements direct with official sources before acting on them as the publisher can accept no responsibility in this respect. Any opinions expressed in this magazine should not be construed as those of the publisher.

3 Comment 4 News 17 Technology news 23 Incident 24 Green page 25 Last piece of the puzzle

Regulation changes benefit UK’s AD sector

26 Draft budget for CfD scheme 27 Wooden it be lovely

WPAC’s Gordon Murray talks about Canada’s expanding pellet production capacity

30 Life after coal

After much hype, Atikokan GS has resumed operations as a 205MW biomass power plant

32 From zoo poo to power

North America’s first zoo-based biogas plant is slated to be up and running by Q4 2015

34 Going against the grain

Canada’s first integrated biorefinery paves the way for future renewable energy projects

36 Plant update: Canada 39 Crowd funding for renewable energy 41 Breaking coal dependence

Heating biomass in a low oxygen creates biocoal – a renewable fuel that bears a striking resemblance to coal

43 All fired up

Torrefied biomass holds a number of advantages over untreated biomass

45 Black pellets: costs and benefits 48 Take a load off

An accurate water content measurement provides improved wood material moisture control

50 Flexibility is key in a time of transition

Multi-cargo machines are helping biomass plant operators meet changing demands of the power generation market

52 Operation upgrade complete 54 Eliminating fire risks

Micro calorimetry can foresee fire risks in pellet stores

56 The revival of district heating

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 Volume 5 • Issue 5

Wooden it be lovely When will Canada look closer to home when it comes to renewable energy consumption?

58 Creating an asset from biogas

One of a kind

Biogas-fired combined heat and power units provide many benefits, from financial gains to positive environmental impacts

The Atikokan Generating Station in Ontario has been transformed into a biomass power plant

61 Events

Advert index Regional focus: bioenergy in Canada

ISSN 2046-2476 Bioenergy front cover_Sept-Oct 14.indd 1

07/10/2014 17:56

Front cover courtesy of Ontario Power Generation

Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 1

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Bioenergy Insight

comment Bioenergy

The road to recovery

C Keeley Downey Editor

anada is experiencing a series of firsts on its path to up consumption of renewables and lower harmful carbon emissions.

It began earlier this year when Ontario became the first province to cease burning fossil coal for electricity, fulfilling a previously made commitment that all coalfired power plants would be shuttered by the end of 2014.

The final plant to close was the Thunder Bay Generating Station, owned by Ontario Power Generation (OPG).

Then, in September came the announcement that the Atikokan Generating Station, another plant in OPG’s former coal portfolio, had been successfully transformed into North America’s largest biomass-fired power plant (front cover image).

However, how much of an impact will Atikokan actually have on the region’s supply of renewable power? It is, at the end of the day, a peaking plant – a back-up power station that will only produce electricity in response to high levels of demand. It

will not be running all of the time and will utilise just 90,000 tonnes a year of wood pellets. That said, completing such a large-scale retrofit project was no mean feat, especially at a time when Canada’s commitment to renewable energy is being called into question.

Next year will see previously announced standards, aimed at cutting GHGs emitted from the nation’s coal plants, come into play.

But a lack of enthusiasm from power companies is being felt and some in the industry are concerned that not enough is being done by the governments to find alternative energy sources.

With its Atikokan plant now operational and plans in place to convert Thunder Bay into a biomass-fired power plant as well, we hope that OPG will set an example for others and revive Canada’s interest in biomass for domestic purposes. Right now Canada’s motive for producing around 2 million tonnes of wood pellets annually is to export it overseas to other markets including Europe and, more recently, Asia.

But let’s not forget about biogas. A drop in the ocean, biogas will never become a utility-scale power source.

That said, its ability to make use of a waste stream and reduce further negative environmental impacts means biogas is a valued product in its own right.

Utilising a valuable waste product is exactly what ZooShare is doing in developing North America’s first zoo-biogas plant, to be built at Toronto Zoo, Ontario.

Inside this issue we bring you the latest on all of these exciting, first-of-akind projects happening across Canada. Chris Fralick from OPG talks us through some of the sophisticated technology and infrastructure that has been installed at Atikokan, while ZooShare’s executive director Daniel Bida reveals how his company’s venture is progressing as it gears up to commence construction in mid-2015.

We hope to enjoy this month’s issue and, as always, welcome your feedback.

Best wishes, Keeley

Follow us on Twitter: @BioenergyInfo

Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 3

xxxxxx Bioenergy

biomass news

Glennmont opens 38MW biomass plant Glennmont Partners, an investment firm dedicated to clean energy in Europe, has started operations at the UK-based 38MW Sleaford strawfired renewable energy plant.

Sleaford will generate enough electricity to power 65,000 homes as well as providing free heat to local sports clubs and community facilities.

The plant was built by a consortium of Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor and Burmeister and Wain Energy. Glennmont purchased 100% equity in the project in December 2011, and financed the construction through a debt package provided by NIBC Bank NV, RBS, Siemens Bank and Unicredit Bank.

Joost Bergsma, managing partner of Glennmont, comments: ‘Sleaford is a

The 38MW plant will benefit 65,000 homes

landmark deal not only for Glennmont but for the UK biomass industry as a whole.’

Glennmont Partners is creating a diversified portfolio of renewable projects across

Europe, utilising technologies which deliver robust and sustainable returns for its investors. Currently managing a portfolio of more than 300MW of biomass, wind

and solar power in France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and the UK, the company is ready to grow its portfolio with early investments from its second fund. l

Tropik Wood and Gimco sign deal for biomass Construction on a $35 million (€26.5 million) 10MW biomass-fired power plant in Nadroga, Fiji has begun following the formation of a joint venture between Tropik Wood Industries Fiji and Korea-based Gimco.

According to reports, the investment for the project will be sourced locally as well as through overseas funding. A timeframe of 28 months has been allocated, with completion slated for the end of 2016.

At the ground breaking ceremony, minister for fisheries and forests Inia Seruiratu said: ‘This facility would assist in reducing Fiji’s reliance on imported fossil fuels. As a small

4 • September/October 2014

island nation, the high fossil prices have had a significant impact on our macroeconomic fundamentals over the past three years. During this time we have imported on average $1.2 billion worth of petroleum products.’

The agreement was reached following a meeting between Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, Tropik Wood CEO and chairman Faiz Khan, and Gimco chairman Sang Sun Lee. The agreement will also allow for the exportation of woodchips to the global market.

‘Gimco’s current and immediate demand is our bark waste that is a by-product of woodchip processing and other forms of biomass fuel such as branches that are left behind immediately after harvesting,’ explains Tropik Wood’s Khan. ‘The JV

provides a good opportunity for us to utilise all forestry and agriculture waste. Tropik will sell this waste to the JV that in turn will process it for exports. The JV will sell to the highest bidder in the open market.’

‘Everything is ready and we can start to install the facilities in Fiji as soon as possible since we have our own market in Korea,’ adds Lee. ‘In Fiji, they only export high quality chips and other products they throw away. That is what we can use; everything else that is thrown away in the forestry and agriculture sectors in Fiji.’

Gimco’s sister energy company Kenertec has existing biomass and cogeneration operations in Korea, China, Indonesia and Cambodia.

The project is expected to generate around 200 jobs. l

Bioenergy Insight

biomass news

Spencer Group delivers first part of £150m Humber Ports biomass investment Engineering firm Spencer Group has delivered the first project as part of a £150 million (€190 million) investment in biomass handling operations at the Humber Ports, UK. The facility is the first to be completed to support a 15year contract between port operator Associated British Ports (ABP) and Drax Power to enable sustainable biomass to be transported to Drax Power Station at Selby. It is part of a programme which will see Drax transform into a predominantly biomass-fuelled generator within a few years.

Work began in April 2013, with Spencer constructing biomass handling, storage and discharge facilities, as well as associated infrastructure.The port facility has now been handed over by Spencer to ABP. At the heart of the development is a silo tower located close to the main

The 50m high silo can store 1,800 tonnes of wood pellets

road from Hull’s docks.

At 50m tall, it is one of the tallest structures on the city’s skyline.

The facility will handle 1 million tonnes a year of wood pellets imported by sea from the US and Canada.

The biomass is stored in warehouses before being delivered by truck to the new facility and unloaded into feeders which take it to a 250m conveyor, carrying it to the top of the silo.

The silo is capable of storing up to 1,800 tonnes

of wood pellets and is filled by 60 truckloads of biomass over a three-hour period, twice a day, loading at the rate of 600 tonnes an hour.

Technology ensures an even load as the biomass is discharged into rail wagons which pass through the base of the structure at crawling speed. The automated system is capable of loading up to 30 rail wagons with 1,500 tonnes of material in around 45 minutes.

‘The Humber Ports are becoming a major gateway

for biomass shipments into the UK and a strategic asset driving the growth of green energy industries along the estuary,’ says Gary Thornton, COO of Hull-based Spencer Group. ‘The facility we have constructed at the Port of Hull is a beacon for the Humber’s growing reputation as the UK’s renewables region.’

The port investments are generating about 100 jobs during construction, with an additional 100 jobs created once all the facilities become fully operational.

The largest is an investment of around £125 million in a dedicated import facility, the Immingham Renewable Fuels Terminal (IRFT), which is due to be completed later this year. IRFT will handle bulk carriers bringing up to three million tonnes of wood pellets a year into the port, destined for Drax Power Station.

The new facilities underline the Humber’s reputation as the UK’s Energy Estuary, with a quarter of the country’s energy needs generated in the region, or supplied through it. l

UK GIB invests in new green power plant in Derby The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) is investing £64 million (€80.8 million) into a new energy-fromwaste plant in Derby.

The project is being developed by Derby City and Derbyshire County Councils, alongside sponsors Interserve and Shanks Group. GIB will provide long-term loan financing alongside Germany’s Bayerische Landesbank and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, with each bank providing a third of the loan funding, totalling £195 million.

The new facility will process waste from households collected from

Bioenergy Insight

Derby and Derbyshire. It will see an increase in the amount of waste that is recycled with the remaining treatable waste converted into energy using a gasification technology.

The project will recycle over 35,000 tonnes of materials per year and divert over 170kt/year of waste from landfill, generating enough electricity to power 14,000 homes.

Following a 32 month construction period, the project will operate for 25 years.

UK-based Energos will supply the gasification plant. The project will be the first long term, project financed, municipal gasification plant in the UK. This is important

in demonstrating the investment potential of this type of technology.

‘This project provides Derby and Derbyshire with the modern, sophisticated infrastructure it needs to manage its household waste in a way that’s green and affordable. Instead of waste being sent to landfill, the project will ensure that more is recycled with the remainder used to create renewable electricity which will be sold to the grid,’ says Shaun Kingsbury, CEO of UK GIB. He adds: ‘The innovative financing of the project creates an important demonstration effect that will, in the long run, help to lower the cost of finance for innovative, green technology of this type.’ l

September/October 2014 • 5

biomass news

ReEnergy Black River to provide power to Fort Drum Renewable energy producer ReEnergy Black River has been awarded a 20-year contract by the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to supply renewable energy to the Fort Drum army base in New York.

This contract is the largest renewable energy project in the history of the US Army. The federal government is increasing its demand for long-term renewable energy as a result of renewable goals established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Additionally, the Army has established a goal to achieve 1GW of renewable energy by 2025.

ReEnergy’s Black River plant is built within the walls of Fort Drum and has a generation capacity of 60MW. It was

originally established as a coal station before being closed by a previous owner in 2010. ReEnergy acquired the plant in 2011 and invested more than $34 million (€27 million) to convert it to fire biomass. It resumed operations in May last year and will use locally grown shrub willow as a fuel.

ReEnergy Black River submitted a proposal in Q2 2013 to the DLA to provide renewable power to Fort Drum, a US Army installation that is home to 37,000 soldiers and family members.

As of 1 November 2014, the plant will provide all of Fort Drum’s electricity needs, which currently peaks at around 28MW. Under the terms of the agreement, ReEnergy will build an electric transmission line to directly connect the ReEnergy Black River facility to Fort Drum’s two substations. Prior to the completion of that line, which is anticipated for mid2015, ReEnergy will arrange for bilateral deliveries to Fort Drum’s substations through an energy service company. l

EIB fosters renewable energy investments in Poland The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending up to PLN295 million (€71 million) to Tauron Polish Energy for its investments in renewable energy in southern Poland, to be completed by the end of 2016.

With the support of the EIB, Tauron Group will expand its electricity distribution networks and upgrade the existing equipment, which will predominantly serve to connect new customers to the distribution grid.

The company will also roll out a smart metering pilot programme. This will be beneficial to residential, commercial and public authority customers, as the programme’s aim is to verify the technology, facilitate data

management and provide better information flow between customers and suppliers.

László Baranyay, EIB’s VP responsible for lending in Poland, comments: ‘The EIB, as the bank of the European Union, promotes competitive and secure energy supply as well as energy efficiency and the increased use of renewable energy. We therefore particularly welcome this agreement with Tauron, as the project will ensure a secure supply to new customers through

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the expansion of the company’s electricity network and the roll-out of a smart metering pilot programme in line with EU requirements to support the development of smart grids.

‘Together with other projects previously financed by the Bank in Poland, this also marks an important step towards increasing energy generation from renewables in Europe. At the same time this loan confirms the EIB’s commitment to the modernisation of the Polish energy sector, which is necessary for the successful economic development of the country.’

As Krzysztof Zawadzki, CFO of Tauron Polska Energia, explains: ‘The finance provided by the EIB enables us to acquire funds on favourable terms compared with those offered by commercial banks and for longer maturities.

These favourable financing conditions provided by the EIB also encourage the Tauron Group to engage in further investment and to increase energy efficiency.’

Including this current loan, the EIB will have made four loans available to the company totalling PLN1.7 billion to support investment in the Polish energy sector, such as the construction of a new biomass-fired power unit at the Jaworzno III power plant. l

Bioenergy Insight

biomass news

Speyside biomass power station receives £74m funding News in brief The Speyside biomass power station in Moray, Scotland has been guaranteed £48 million (€60 million) of finance by the UK government, and a further £26 million from international infrastructure investor John Laing and the Green Investment Bank (GIB).

An artist’s impression of the Speyside biomass power plant

The new woodchip combined heat and power (CHP) plant will supply 87.4GWh of renewable electricity per annum to the national grid.

It will be fuelled with sustainable forestry by-products sourced from the local area, one of the UK’s most productive forestry regions.

The plant will also generate 76.8GWh of renewable heat per annum for the adjacent Macallan whisky distillery, providing approximately 90% of the steam needed in the distillation process. Using biomass instead of natural gas to generate heat will allow the distillery to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by over 17,500 tonnes of CO2, comparable to taking nearly 8,000 cars off the road.

In its role as lenders’ technical advisor, Mott MacDonald completed a technical and environmental review on behalf of Infrastructure UK and will monitor construction until the project is completed in 2016. l

Stora Enso to build demo-scale plant in US Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso is investing €32 million in a new demonstration plant, to be built in Louisiana, US, following its recent acquisition of biotechnology association Virdia.

The plant will be used to validate, on an industrial scale, Virdia’s technology. This newly acquired extraction and separation process enables cellulosic biomass, such as wood and rural waste, to be converted into sugars.

The investment serves the feasibility of the technology on an industrial scale, with a view to

Bioenergy Insight

deploying it in some of Stora Enso’s existing pulp mills in the future.

The new plant will be built in close proximity to a sugarcane plantation. It will utilise bagasse waste as feedstock to produce C5 sugars and xylose. These sugars will then be converted and upgraded for applications in food and personal care, for example.

‘This investment outlines the next step in our plan for new markets and applications,’ comments Juan Carlos Bueno, executive VP, Stora Enso Biomaterials. ‘Our idea is to commercialise cost-effective renewable solutions to supplement value to existing cellulosic streams.’

The demonstration plant will come online in 2017. l

Nebraska Forest Service provides biomass grants THE NEBRASKA Forest Service (NFS) will offer two cost-share assistance grants to organisations that are looking to install woody biomass-fired energy systems.

These grants are open to a range of institutions including municipalities, universities, hospitals and greenhouses.

Funding for the programme has come from the Wildfire Control Act of 2013, which advocates the development of markets focusing on woody biomass generated from forest thinnings.

The NFS offers two types of grant funding: a cost-share assistance fund available to the public as well as private, for-profit and nonprofit agencies or organisations in Nebraska; and a cost-share assistance for contractual services for technical engineering feasibility studies that look into the potential for wood energy use.

The application deadline for the grants is 31 October.

Procter & Gamble’s $230m biomass project gathers pace RENEWABLE ENERGY provider Procter & Gamble is moving forward with its biomass facility in Georgia, US. Construction on the $230 million (€178 million) biomass facility can continue after it was granted permission from local officials.

The project has seven partners including Georgia Power, the Georgia Public Service Commission, Sterling Energy Assets, Procter & Gamble Corporate, Constellation New Energy, the federal government and the Payroll Development Authority.

The plant is expected to start production in the summer of 2017.

Glencane to operate 40MW biomass plant GLENCANE BIOENERGIA, a local sugar and

ethanol producer, has gained permission to operate a 40MW biomass plant in Junqueiropolis municipality as an independent power producer.

Brazil’s electricity regulator Aneel has authorised Glencane’s Rio Vermelho 2 plant, which will use sugarcane bagasse and straw as fuel, to begin production later this year.

The facility has one sole unit with a capacity of 30MW.

September/October 2014 • 7

biogas news ReFood’s £20m AD plant complete Construction work on ReFood’s new £20 million (€25 million) anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Widnes, UK has been completed by building and civil engineering contractor Britcon. The project has now been officially handed over.

The plant is the largest gasto-grid AD facility in the UK and the second plant for the ReFood brand in the UK. It will recycle 90,000 tonnes of commercial and domestic food waste and will generate up to 17MWh of biogas which will be transported directly to the

national gas grid to provide enough power for 8,000 homes.

Britcon was appointed to deliver the project following its completion of ReFood’s first AD plant in Doncaster, for which it was also recently appointed to deliver a £1.85 million expansion.

Britcon was the principal contractor for the entire project where over 1,000 international workers were employed over an 18 month build programme. The project brief included earthworks, piling operations and structural works comprising multiple high rise, post tensioned, circular, reinforced digester tanks, receiving tanks and gas storage tanks. A de-packaging building, numerous process structures, external works all on a live site with difficult

ReFood’s £20 million AD plant in Widnes, UK

ground conditions were also part of the contract, together with a carbon neutral high spec office complex.

The move to gas-togrid is a new development

for ReFood, and the first gas-to-grid AD plant in the company’s European portfolio of 11 plants, which together provide enough power for 46,000 homes. l

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Bioenergy Insight

biogas news

Enovos and NPG open biogas plant at Antwerp Port NPG Energy, a subsidiary of Enovos Luxembourg, has inaugurated its NPG Bio II biogas plant at the Port of Antwerp. Inauguration of this renewable facility is the first of three openings to occur over the coming year.

Speaking about the plant, which took 10 months to build, NPG Energy CEO and co-founder André Jurres says: ‘The plant is primarily fuelled by liquids, coming from waste and residual flows from the food industry.

After a preliminary treatment, the products are fed into the fermenters, where they then undergo a heavily controlled fermentation process. The biogas produced during this process is then converted into electricity and heat using co-generation engines.’

The plant has a total power production capacity of 3MW and will

produce 21 GWh, which corresponds to the energy use of around 6,000 households. The majority of the energy produced will be used by the neighbouring company Antwerp Gateway, with the remainder being directly injected into the grid.

The residual heat will be used for prior and subsequent treatment of flows and will allow for the plant’s installations to be operated.

Daniel Christnach, member of the board of directors at NPG Energy and head of renewable energies and cogeneration at Enovos, comments: ‘Biomethane plants play a key role in the fleet of energy production plants on the basis of renewable energies. With their continuous production, they contribute towards balancing production using from intermittent plants such as wind farms and photovoltaic production and are, therefore, able to guarantee the stability of energy supply for the grid.’ l

The NPG Bio II biogas plant at Antwerp Port

AD plant nears completion in California Installation and construction is almost complete on an anaerobic digestion plant scheduled to open at Calgren Renewable Fuels by the Q4 2015 in California, US. DVO is behind project, which will be fitted with its two stage mixed plug flow AD technology. It is the company’s first installation in California, and the state’s only next-generation anaerobic digester.

The DVO anaerobic digester, built

by Andgar of Ferndale, Washington, is designed to hold approximately 1.4 million gallons of manure and organic waste. Each day, the digester will receive 55,000 gallons of solid and liquid waste from Four J Farm Dairy, a nearby dairy farm with approximately 2,000 head of cattle.

The biogas will replace thousands of gallons of natural gas currently being used by the Calgren on-site cogeneration facility to produce 55

million gallons of ethanol each year.

‘The Calgren facility and Four J Farm Dairy will not be the only ones to benefit from the addition of DVO’s anaerobic digester,’ says Steve Dvorak, owner and founder of DVO. ‘Our digesters reduce the environmental impact from farm waste greenhouse gas emissions by over 90%, pathogens in the digested waste are greatly reduced, often to the point of nondetection, and up to 97% odour reduction is achieved as biogas is burned.’ l

M&S to back biomethane certification scheme UK supermarket Marks & Spencer (M&S) has purchased the majority of Biomethane Certificates (BMCs) from green gas produced at Future Biogas’s £8 million (€10 million) biomethane plant in Doncaster.

The BMCs, registered with Green Gas Trading (GGT) in the name of Future Biogas, represent the green (bio) element of the biomethane produced at the plant, rather than the physical gas itself. The certificates allow M&S to demonstrate that it has decarbonised its existing gas supply without affecting any existing contractual arrangements in place across its UK stores.

Head of energy supply at M&S, Gio Patellaro, says: ‘We

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are committed to maintaining our carbon neutrality by investing in renewable energy. We have become a member of GGT, having signed an agreement to become a long-term buyer of Biomethane Certificates from Future Biogas’ Doncaster gas-to-grid plant.

‘After careful consideration of the market, we were particularly attracted by the lifecycle carbon analysis which is embedded in the Biomethane Certification Scheme’s methodology, which will allow M&S to decarbonise our gas supply whilst simultaneously supporting the anaerobic digestion industry.’

As Grant Ashton, CEO of GGT, explains: ‘The BMCs methodology certificates are embedded carbon in the biomethane production process and are key to the acceptance of biomethane certificates as an offset for carbon reporting purposes.’ l

September/October 2014 • 9

biogas news

MT-Energie contracted for the expansion of existing AD plants in the UK MT-Energie UK, a provider of anaerobic digestion plants in the UK, will build and integrate additional digesters for two existing AD operations in the UK: on the Apsley Estate in Hampshire; and at Clayton Hall Farm, West Yorkshire.

In both cases MT-Energie has been chosen to assess and carry out all works relating to the plant expansion, in some cases replacing components supplied by the previous technology supplier.

The 500kW AD plant on the Apsley Estate, which started operations in 2012, will be scaled up to generate a total output of 1,100kWe and 2,000m3/ hr of raw biogas, while the 400kW AD plant in Yorkshire will soon reach production of 1,000kWe, expanding the actual stream of renewable energy produced on the farm.

The two revised AD projects follow quite different strategies for the expansion programme.

Thanks to the proximity to gas infrastructure at Apsley Farm it is proposed to integrate electricity production with gas-to-grid generation,

MT-Energie will assess and carry out works relating to the expansion projects

therefore accessing the Renewable Heat Incentive biomethane tariff.

The feedstock will remain mainly of agricultural origin: grains, maize silage, energy beet and whole crop rye silage grown on the farm’s own land.

On the other hand Clayton Hall Farm will increase the use of food waste as feedstock — it hopes to reach 80% of the total substrate in

this form, versus 20% from agricultural residues and purpose grown crops.

As Ben Donaldson, MT-Energie’s national sales manager, explains: ‘These are the most recent expansion projects we are undertaking, however we have received more requests from existing AD operators for extension or re-powering solutions which will reduce parasitic loads and plant downtime.’ l

Asia-Pacific’s distributed CHP capacity to expand with $56bn investment The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region’s distributed combined heat and power (CHP) installed capacity will grow from around 37.7GW in 2013 to approximately 64GW by 2019, according to an analyst with research and consulting firm GlobalData.

Ankit Mathur, GlobalData’s project manager for alternative energy, states that the region will spend almost $56 billion (€42 billion) on bolstering its distributed CHP installed capacity between 2014 and 2019.

10 • September/October 2014

This is the second largest investment globally behind Europe, which will boast distributed CHP capital expenditure of around $144 billion between 2014 and the end of the forecast period.

The analyst believes that China’s significant contribution has been the major driving force behind the expansion of APAC’s distributed CHP installed capacity reaching 37.7GW last year. The country will continue to account for more than 50% of the region’s market share, with a forecast net capacity addition of over 14.5GW between 2014 and 2019.

Mathur says: ‘Most of China’s current CHP projects are coal-based, presenting

a fertile opportunity for market growth, as CHP power plants can employ the existing set-up of coal-fired plants.

By moving to technologies that burn fuels with lower emissions, such as gas or biomass, the country can gradually reduce its coal consumption.

‘Consequently, China will be able to further drive its efforts towards reducing carbon emissions generated from coal-fired power plants.’

Mathur adds that considerable efforts taken by China and other APAC countries will allow the region to retain the leading global distributed CHP market share by 2019. l

Bioenergy Insight

biogas news

Weltec chosen for AD plant expansion in UK Eco Sustainable Solutions, the owner of a food waste AD plant in Dorset, UK, is expanding the facility with the addition of a further 1.1MW of food waste processing capacity.

The expansion contract has been awarded to Weltec Biopower UK, which built the original Eco-Dorset AD plant and commissioned it in 2012. The extension will be completed by the end of this year.

The plant is fed by local authority food waste as well as out of date food products which, prior to digestion, are unpackaged, sorted and pasteurised at the site. After the extension, approximately 37,000 tonnes per year of food waste will generate an electrical output of 1.6MW. Electricity generated at the plant, as well as excess gas, is fed to an

Eco Sustainable Solutions is expanding its UK biogas plant

adjacent feed mill. When the mill is not operational, the power is fed to the national grid. The digestate produced

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Handling a World of Materials

September/October 2014 • 11

biogas news

Ricardo-AEA wins European CHP project Ricardo-AEA, an international energy and environmental company specialising in consultancy, policy support and programme management, has been appointed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy to review and update the reference values that help to determine the efficiency of combined heat and power (CHP) plants across the EU. The combined generation of heat and power using CHP technologies is more efficient than the separate generation of electricity and heat. Under the Energy Efficiency Directive, CHP plants in schemes generating 1MW of electricity or more have to deliver primary energy savings (PES) which are greater than 10%, judged as ‘High Efficiency CHP’, to qualify for financial support.

The harmonised reference efficiency values for the separate generation of heat and electricity enable PES to be calculated in a standardised way across the EU. The European Commission aims to review and update these values every four years to account for technological developments and changes in the distribution of energy sources.

Ricardo-AEA will carry out the work in collaboration with a number of European partners. Project activities include an extensive data collection exercise on the performance of power stations, heat generation stations and CHP plants including a full review of the existing scientific literature. Consultations will also be undertaken with relevant industry stakeholders using surveys to verify data or address any gaps in the evidence base.

‘CHP has a significant role to play in helping countries to make primary energy savings,’ says Ricardo-AEA business manager for CHP Mahmoud Abu-Ebid. ‘As a result, policies have been developed across Europe to support the development of CHP which currently accounts for around 11% of the EU’s total generation of power. We look forward to providing technical assistance on this project for the Commission as the reference values provide an important foundation for the development of CHP policies across Europe.’ l

12 • September/October 2014

News in brief

Ground breaks on $80m biogas plant ROESLEIN ALTERNATIVE Energy (REA), a producer of

renewable natural gas, and Murphy-Brown, the livestock production subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, have started building an $80 million (€60 million) biogas plant in Missouri, US. The biogas will be extracted from hog manure, sourced from Murphy-Brown’s hog ‘finishing farms’, in 88 lagoons using anaerobic digestion technology developed and installed by RAE. The project is the largest of its kind, according to reports, utilising manure from one of the biggest concentrations of finishing hogs in the US Midwest. Biogas production is expected to begin later this year.

‘We are excited to see the results of our collaboration with Smithfield and Murphy-Brown begin to take shape. This project can be a model to show how both economic and environmental benefits can be gained by using manure in a different way,’ Rudi Roeslein, president of RAE, was quoted as saying. ‘There is value in the gas we capture as alternative vehicle fuel. There is even more value to the environment from reduced greenhouse gas emissions, eliminating rainfall effects on treatment systems, and odour reduction.’

Viridor extends UK contract through to 2027 WASTE RECYCLING company Viridor has extended its

contract with the Borough of Poole in the UK for the receipt and processing of residual and recyclable waste through to 2027. The extended arrangements provide the borough with continuing recovery and recycling solutions, overall budget savings and longer term continuity of budget security.

As part of this extended contract Viridor will be utilising its material recovery facility at Crayford. It will work with partners at the Lakeside energy recovery plant and New Earth Solutions’ operational Canford Mechanical and Biological Treatment facility located within Poole to recycle and recover renewable energy from the borough’s residual waste.

Viridor regional manager Colin Richardson says: ‘We are delighted that the Borough of Poole has extended our contract which is testimony to the service that we have delivered for the past 10 years.’

Welsh AD plant achieves biofertiliser certification

THE GWYRIAD anaerobic digestion (AD) plant near Caernarfon,

developed and operated by Biogen, is the first in Wales to achieve certification under REAL’s not-for-profit Biofertiliser Certification Scheme (BCS).

The plant converts food waste into renewable electricity and a coproduct called digestate, otherwise known as certified biofertiliser.

The plant, which will turn 11,000 tonnes of food waste per year into green electricity, has been developed under the Wales Procurement Programme, set up by the Welsh Government.

BCS certification is in compliance with the PAS 110 specification and the AD Quality Protocol.

The GwyriAD plant is the eighteenth AD plant in the UK to achieve BCS certification.

Bioenergy Insight

biogas news

Bluesphere to convert landfill methane gas emissions into energy Clean energy company Bluesphere has announced it is pursuing a strategy to work in partnership with landfill owners to convert harmful methane gas emissions from landfills into electricity.

Scrubs up nicely...

The process is based in readily available technology that is already being used in various parts of the US and other parts of the world.

Methane can be converted into energy by drilling pipes into the landfill. Through these pipes methane is directed into a gas turbine or internal combustion engine which converts the gas into electricity. The electricity can either be used on-site or sold to the local electric utility and fed into the grid.

According to Bluesphere CEO Shlomi Palas, ‘A large number of the landfills in the US, particularly in the south eastern region, are not productively using methane gas emitted from landfills. These landfills are the oil fields of our future. We believe we can offer a favourable partnership to current landfill owners by providing the equipment, expertise and power purchase agreements to convert what is now an unused asset, methane gas, into a revenue stream.’ l

Pöyry awarded EPCM contract for bioenergy project in Canada

Millar Western Forest Products has awarded Pöyry with the assignment for engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for an anaerobic bioenergy project at its Whitecourt pulp mill in Alberta, Canada.

The project involves integration of anaerobic hybrid digesters into the pulp mill’s existing aerobic effluent treatment system. Recovered organic material will be converted to biogas, used to fuel two reciprocating engines that will produce up to 6MW of renewable green power for use by the mill itself. Recovered heat of engine exhaust gas will be used in pulp drying to reduce the use of natural gas.

Pöyry’s scope of work comprises typical EPCM services such as project management and scheduling, overall engineering management and detail design services, procurement and contract administration, cost control, construction management and co-ordination of the commissioning activities. The planned start-up of the plant is August 2015.

‘This project is a good example of utilising innovative technology in a smart way to convert organic waste material to renewable energy. It is also an important EPCM reference for Pöyry in North America,’ says Ari Asikainen, president of Pöyry’s regional operations in North America.

The value of the order has not been disclosed. l

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September/October 2014 • 13

biopellet news Canfor to build two pellet plants in BC, Canada Canfor is planning to construct two pellet production plants, one at each of its sawmill sites located at Chetwynd and Fort St. John in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The plants, which will have a combined production capacity of 175,000 tonnes of wood pellets, will be developed and operated in partnership with

Enviva to develop two pellet plants in US

Biomass provider Enviva plans to build two new facilities in the US. The plants, which will be located in Richmond and Sampson, North Carolina, will receive an investment of over $214.2 million (€166 million).

Enviva operates existing facilities in North Carolina, Mississippi and Virginia, which have an annual total production capacity of approximately 1.6 million tonnes.

‘This highlights the great opportunity we see to continue to develop significant infrastructure in North Carolina,’ says Enviva’s spokeswoman Elizabeth Woodworth. ‘North Carolina’s abundant wood resources, its strong, sustainable forestry practices, and robust labour force make the state a compelling place to invest.’ l

14 • September/October 2014

Vancouver-based wood pellet fuel supplier Pacific Bioenergy. The pellets will be sold to a power utility customer under a long-term agreement.

The total investment of $58 million (€45.6 million) will include electrical self-generation capacity of 3MW supported through BC Hydro’s Power Smart Load Displacement Program.

‘These investments enhance our utilisation of sawmill residuals and contribute to our overall sustainable value proposition,’ Canfor’s president and CEO Don Kayne said on a statement.

‘We are pleased to continue our strong partnership with BC Hydro on renewable energy, and contribute to the province’s goals of sustainable power generation.’

‘BC Hydro is proud to partner in projects that generate renewable energy and reduce overall electricity demand on BC Hydro’s system,’ adds Joanna Sofield, Power Smart’s GM. ‘This project will displace 19.1GWh of Canfor’s electricity consumption per year for 20 years.’

The pellet plants are scheduled to commence production in the third and fourth quarters of 2015. l

New technology for Vega Biofuels torrefaction plant Vega Biofuels’ joint venture partner, Agri-Tech Producers (ATP), has developed a new, patent-pending process that reduces the cost of some of the biomass feedstock for the company’s pilot torrefaction plant in South Carolina, US.

remediation and the torrefaction processes.’

After developing its SRBBP process, ATP has begun working with the US EPA’s REPowering America’s Land Initiative, which facilitates renewable energy activity on former and currently contaminated sites.

Upon request, EPA provided ATP a list and map showing nearly 170 contaminated sites, totalling approximately 250,000 acres, within a 75-mile radius of the Allendale pilot plant and 66,000 contaminated sites nationwide, totalling approximately 35 million acres.

Joseph James, ATP’s president, and Vega advisory board member, states: ‘Our new SRBBP process can be replicated all over the US and around the world, wherever there is substantial contaminated site acreage convenient to a torrefaction plant. This should either help stimulate more use of biocoal in the US, or otherwise enhance our profits.’ l

Vega recently entered into the joint venture to build and operate a pilot manufacturing plant in Allendale for the production of biocoal, among other torrefied products.

When completed in Q1 2015, the plant will use a patented torrefaction technology to produce the biocoal from plant and wood biomass, which will then be used to generate renewable electricity.

As a way to dramatically reduce biomass feedstock costs, while substantially expanding the availability of nearby forest and bio-crop acreage, ATP has developed a combined ‘Site Remediation Biomass and Bio-Coal Production’ (SRBBP) process.

Michael Molen, chairman and CEO of Vega Biofuels, says: ‘Through ATP’s SRBBP process we will be planting certain trees and bio-crops and using them twice, effectively cutting their Woody biomass will be used to produce biocoal at Vega’s pilot plant cost in half for both the

Bioenergy Insight

biopellet news

KGET ships 200 tonnes of wood pellets to Korea Kleangas Energy Technologies (KGET), a producer of alternative clean technologies and products that promote energy efficiency, has shipped 200 tonnes of wood pellets to Busan, South Korea as part of its current purchase order.

weather approaches. This is because wood pellets are increasingly being used to heat Korean homes, which will in time replace oil and coal for home heating.’

This news follows a recent announcement by KGET that is has filed an 8-K regarding the company’s acquisition of a clean energy company that produces approximately 15,000 tonnes of pellets annually, and generates approximately 2.4MW of electricity at its plant.

The plant burns landfill gases to create electricity, which in turn is sold to a major utility company. The facility also uses the heat generated by burning the landfill gas in the drying process to create wood pellets.

Linton comments: ‘This acquisition fits perfectly within our core green energy business by producing electricity from landfill gas. Additionally, some of the excess heat from the natural gas engines is used in the drying process to create wood pellets.

‘We are looking forward to increasing production in both electricity and pellets

According to a statement, this shipment is different to previous ones in that it is being packaged for consumer use in 18kg bags instead of commercial use which is packaged in 1 tonne bags.

Mr. Linton, CEO of KGET, states: ‘This 200 tonne shipment required us to develop a package for consumer use in Korea.

So instead of wood pellets being loaded into 1 tonne bags, we had to develop an 18kg bag and load 55 of them on a single pallet. Then we had to wrap the pallet in plastic for shipment to Korea.

‘We expect that the pellet consumer packaging request will increase as cooler

200 tonnes of wood pellets have been delivered to Busan in South Korea

over the next 12 months to meet the increasing demand for electricity and wood pellets. This is because utilities are retiring their coal and nuclear power plants and facing increased demand for clean renewable energy. The demand for wood pellets around the world is increasing as coal-fired electrical generation plants convert to wood pellet fired electrical generation plants.’ l

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September/October 2014 • 15

biopellet news

Global wood pellet demand to reach 50 million tonnes by 2024

Highland Pellets plans 500,000 t/y facility in Arkansas

Global wood pellet demand could more or less double in the next 10 years, growing from around 23 million tonnes in 2014 to 50 million tonnes in 2024.

This is according to a new study carried out

by RISI, an information provider for the global forest products industry.

Highland Pellets, a private development group which builds industrial wood pellet plants in the US Southeast and upper Midwest regions, announced the building of a 500,000 tonne per year wood pellet facility in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

‘It’s a really exciting time to be looking at the wood pellet market. We’re seeing strong demand in the European heating sector as high energy prices drive consumers to look for fuel alternatives. Also, policies that promote the generation of renewable energy are spurring the use of pellets as a substitution for coal in power plants,’ comments Seth Walker, author

and bioenergy economist at RISI. ‘Additionally,’ Walker continues, ‘Korea and Japan are beginning to enter the market, creating a greater impact on global trade flows. Right now we’re getting a small taste of what the market is going to look like in 10 years.’

The Global Pellet Demand Outlook Study provides forecasts for: · European industrial markets: Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK · European heating markets: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden · Asian industrial markets: Korea and Japan · North American markets: The US and Canada Industrial users analysed in this study include: Dong Energy, Drax, E.ON, GDF Suez, KEPCO subsidiaries, Ontario Power Generation, RWE and Showa Shell. l

The $130 million (€98.5 million) plant will create over 35 direct jobs and a further 482 indirect jobs.

Highland Pellets Chairman Tom Reilley says the plant ‘is the first built under the Highland brand. Together with our leadership team who are veterans of Cargill, Black River, JP Morgan and EnerNOC, we are excited to complete our Pine Bluff facility and expand our footprint’.

The Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County worked closely with Highland Pellets on this project.

Highland Pellets is working with industry partners including a forestry company to provide sustainable fibre feedstock and Cooper/Consolidated for the management of the logistics supply chain for export.

Ground breaking is expected to commence in October and deliveries from the plant to begin March 2016. l

Zilkha Biomass Energy plans wood pellet plant US-based Zilkha Biomass Energy, a biomass solutions provider, is building a $90 million (€67 million) facility in Monticello, Arkansas to manufacture its black pellets.

‘Power companies across the globe are looking for renewable energy alternatives and biomass wood pellets stand as one of the most practical and cost-effective solutions,’ says Jack Holmes, CEO of Zilkha Biomass Energy. ‘This plant in Monticello will be one of our largest and will help us capture more of the growing

biomass energy market. Our black pellets have a set of beneficial qualities, such as water-resistance, that make it a more attractive option than traditional wood pellets.’

Zilkha says its black pellets can be easily integrated into coal-fired plants, helping to create cleaner emissions and allowing plants to more easily comply with clean air regulations. The pellets are water resistant, which allows them to be transported and stored outside like coal.

Woody biomass is abundant and is considered to be one of the best available sources of biomass on Earth. Forests cover more than 18.8 million acres in Arkansas — more than half of the state —

16 • September/October 2014

Black pellets are water resistant, making them more attractive than traditional wood pellets

making it an ideal location for biomass production.

Nita McDaniel, executive director of the Monticello Economic Development Commission, says: ‘The manufacturing of Zilkha black pellets is a natural fit

for the community alongside the University of Arkansas at Monticello’s School of Forest Resources. Our heritage is rich in the timber industry and this continues to move us forward with sustainable wood-based products.’ l

Bioenergy Insight

xx Bioenergy

technology news Maximising AD mixing The efficiency of the mixing process is fundamental to creating an optimum anaerobic digestion (AD) process.

The reality for today’s AD operators is that, in addition to achieving higher gas yields, reducing foaming and minimising maintenance issues, they now need to fully maximise the sustainability benefits of their AD process plant, which means that each part of the AD process is subject to ever closer scrutiny.

UK-based System Mix, in conjunction with P&M Pumps, a company which markets the Rotamix System incorporating the Vaughan chopper pump, has been supplying digester

mixing systems to the UK wastewater companies for two decades and, more recently, to private sector food waste AD plants.

One example of the success of the Rotamix System is at Southern Water where this technology is being used to mix over 90% of the total digester volume The System Mix AD system is serving food waste AD plants in the UK (82,007m³).

The basis of the success of these plants the AD process that suitable and fatty material in the depends on a durable mixing pre-conditioning of solids digester and this means that technology supported by is carried-out prior to material continues to pass Vaughan Chopper Pumps. digestion and our system through the nozzles. This in Explaining the mixing has been proven to be turn ensures that digestate is process in more detail, effective in achieving this. adequately conditioned and System Mix director Andy The Vaughan pump prevents actually benefits all postParr says: ‘It is crucial to re-accumulation of fibrous digestion equipment.’ l

Vecoplan opens new technology centre The new ‘Vecoplan AG Technologiezentrum’ (technology centre) was officially opened in September.

Rebuilding and expanding the existing technical centre at the company’s location in Bad Merienberg took over eight months and it is now, according to Vecoplan, the world’s largest development centre in the field of environmental technology.

At the opening ceremony, the minister of economic affairs of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Eveline Lemke, said: ‘Based on the tests in the Technologiezentrum, Vecoplan develops individual machinery for its clients.

Consequently every company receives a customised plant in accordance with its requirements.’

The goal-oriented and reliable customisation of today’s machinery and equipment is very important. The basis for design is are always tests with the corresponding material, as this is the only way to develop a processing strategy.

Stefan Kaiser, head of business unit recycling at Vecoplan, adds: ‘The appropriate equipment of our new technology centre allows us to handle complex tasks and even material that is difficult to process.’ l

Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 17

technology news

Lipp Systems to supply spiral seamed tanks to Wakefield project Lipp Systems in the UK has been chosen to supply its leakproof double-fold seamed tanking system for a residual waste treatment and recycling facility currently under construction in Wakefield, UK.

Management and delivered by a joint venture (JV) comprising Spanish environmental technology firm Ros Roca and UK engineering company Imtech Water, Waste and Energy.

Lipp’s SST tanks under construction Under the contract, Shanks Six individual tanks are being will build a residual waste number of processes to treat supplied to the project, which treatment facility at South and recycle waste from the is being led by Shanks Waste Kirkby, which will employ a Wakefield district and convert it into valuable products and green energy. The facility will process up to 145,600 tonnes per annum of municipal solid waste, helping to increase You can share the technological the local authority’s landfill experience gained from over diversion rate towards 90%.

The facility includes an AD 750 projects worldwide plant provided by the JV. The Dreyer & Bosse have become a leading manufacturer of CHP systems, AD plant forms part of the they have developed a large and extensive line of products that South Kirkby development, combine to make energy from Biogas and Natural gas which is in turn part of a Our products: 25-year, £750 million (€957 z Biogas / Natural gas CHP from 75 – 2.000 kW million) PFI contract awarded z In house System programming z Gas cleaning to Shanks by Wakefield z 24 Hrs 7 days a week service Council. When completed z Project management from idea to realisation the AD plant is designed to Advantages: handle 65,000 tonnes of input z Competent experienced team per year. This will produce z Highest reliability and availability due to individual design and enough biogas energy to technology for your project z D&B build and design ready to use with in house employees power over 3,000 homes. z We have our own service department with experience of more than The AD process will also 750 units worldwide. produce soil conditioner for z Individual solutions offered for each possible CHP according to use in brownfield restoration customer specifications or similar projects.

See us on the web at: www.dreyer-bosse.de Lipp Systems UK is providing three 19m x 19m digestion Dreyer & Bosse Kraftwerke GmbH Streßelfeld 1, 29475 Gorleben, Germany tanks each with a capacity fon +49 5882 9872-0 • fax +49 5882 9872-20 • info@dreyer-bosse.de of 4,300 tonnes, together www.dreyer-bosse.com with three smaller tanks.

The digestion tanks are being supplied with portal frame roofs to keep the weather at bay and a stainless steel diaphragm roof underneath to provide the gas seal.

18 • September/October 2014

‘With recent storage and bio-digester tank failures hitting the media, significant attention is now being paid to the integrity of tank systems in new anaerobic digestion plants, which are critical to both meeting environmental standards and achieving efficient operation,’ comments Andrew Shedden, director of Lipp Systems in the UK. ‘We offer a Spiral Seamed Tank (SST) system that is formed on-site and can be used as a liquid buffer tank, a digestate tank (with agitation and temperature control) and as a gas accumulator tank.’

The Wakefield site at South Kirkby is designed to process up to 230,000 tonnes of waste collected by Wakefield Council annually. Materials from the mixed waste stream are being separated into recyclable metals, plastics, and aggregates, plus organic matter.

The facility will produce a refuse-derived fuel for processing at a multi-fuel plant at the Ferrybridge Power Station for energy recovery.

The remaining organics will be treated and further separated using an autoclave before sterilisation and then used as in-feed for the AD plant. l

Bioenergy Insight

technology news

Brewery benefits from biogas CHP cogeneration system Yuengling, the oldest brewery in the US, has installed a 400kW/h combined heat and power (CHP) cogeneration power plant from 2G Cenergy.

The module was supplied ‘all-in-one’ and ‘plug and play’.

The brewery will use the heat generated by the plant to heat its pasteurisation process, a critical component in beer production. This allows Yuengling to save significant amounts of energy and capital as less steam is required to heat its tunnel pasteurisers.

2G Cenergy also supplied the gas treatment system

2G Cenergy’s CHP plant installed at the Yuengling brewery in the US

to dehumidify the saturated gas, and to remove H2S contained in the raw biogas.

The CHP system has been designed as dual fuel module and can be operated on low Btu biogas, as well as pipeline quality natural gas.

Research carried out by

independent market analysts predicts that installations of biogas powered CHP energy conversion systems in the US will substantially grow over the next 10 to 15 years.

The increasing popularity of biogas plants is expected to emerge through a growing

need to enhance wasteto-energy processes and the accelerating adoption of advanced distributed generation technologies.

‘The US biogas sector is in a very vibrant phase, with a range of anaerobic digester companies coming forward with more advanced and proven technologies, many new projects, and aspirational targets,’ says Michael Turwitt, 2G Cenergy’s president and CEO. ‘The increased focus on renewable energy and smart biogas solutions to turn waste into valuable energy, and the undisputed benefits associated with smart biogas energy generation are driving steady growth and demand for the use of highly efficient biogas CHP distributed power plants.’ l

Hillco Technologies and John Deere introduce new harvesting and baling system Hillco Technologies, In partnership with John Deere, has developed a new system for harvesting corn and baling corn stover in one step.

The Hillco Single Pass Round Bale (SPRB) system provides a corn residue collection process with minimal impact on corn harvesting efficiency and speed. It is fully automated and offers continuous round baling with no stopping necessary.

Harvesting and baling are accomplished in one pass, with less equipment, time and manpower required. The process maximises overall efficiency and productivity while minimizing costs.

Key features include: • Low horsepower

Bioenergy Insight

consumption • Full visibility — three strategically located cameras provide easy viewing • Simple pintle style hitch for connecting and disconnecting • Spread to collect at the touch of a button

• Even feeding creates dense, well-formed bales • Faster grinding times for bales.

According to Lenny Hill, owner and president of Hillco Technologies: ‘The ability to harvest and bale in one pass speaks to farmers’ efficiencies and economics,

The SPRB system allows producers to harvest and bale in one pass, requiring less equipment, time and manpower

requiring less equipment, time and manpower. The SPRB system’s bales consist of a high percentage of cobs and husks and the feed quality is higher than other corn stalk bales. Because the baled material comes directly out of the back of the combine and the material never touches the ground, SPRB system bales are cleaner and contain far less ash, or “dirt”, than traditional stalk bales.

‘Additionally, this system provides a sustainable harvesting and baling method.

At removal rates of around 1 tonne per acre, it removes a lower amount of essential nutrients from the soil, leaving the highest plant nutrients on the field. ‘Studies show that stover removal rates of up to 30% can increase yield in cornon-corn rotation, and the SPRB system removes, on average, 0.8 to 1.4 tonnes per acre.’ l

September/October 2014 • 19

technology news

New brand identity for FLI Energy FLI Energy, a UK-based EPC contractor for anaerobic digestion projects, has launched its new brand identity in conjunction with its parent company, FLI Group, and other subsidiaries.

of providing design and construction services to companies at the forefront of biogas energy deployment’.

Declan McGrath, FLI Energy’s MD, comments: ‘This year we are celebrating our 25th anniversary. This important milestone makes for the right timing for this launch.’

To date, FLI Energy’s plants have a combined electrical output of 52,000MWh annually. This is enough to power more than 6,500 homes and divert almost 100,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste away from landfill sites. l

According to FLI, the move is to ‘reinforce its market positioning to reflect its forward-looking business strategy

New tool gives rural regions a bite of the bioenergy market A new online tool has been launched to help the bioenergy market grow in remote and rural regions of Europe, and to highlight business and enterprise opportunities to those looking to enter the sector.

The BioPAD Supply Chain Unique Integrated Tool (BISCUIT) is a product of BioPAD (Bioenergy Proliferation and Deployment) — a €700,000, two-year project funded under the EU’s Northern Periphery Programme (NPP) with partners

in Finland, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland.

The tool allows anyone, whether they are a supplier of raw materials, an individual or company interested in producing bioenergy products, or those wanting to use bioenergy in a business or home, the opportunity to find out about bioenergy supply chains and the opportunities this renewable fuel source provides.

Jointly developed by local researchers at the Environmental Research Institute (ERI), North Highland College UHI, this new resource aims to assist the movement towards a low carbon society by encouraging the development of a

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The online tool BISCUIT provides information about bioenergy supply chains

responsible renewable energy market to the benefit of local communities and businesses.

Using bioenergy fuels as a replacement for fossil fuels often requires many stages before the source material is ultimately converted into energy. These steps can include cultivation or acquisition, procurement, processing, transportation, and combustion or conversion to produce heat, and/or electricity.

Each part of the supply chain represents an opportunity for a business or entrepreneur. In addition, transactions that take place for each part of the supply chain tend to keep money within the region, rather than paying to importing gas, oil or coal. By providing key information to a variety of users, from forest owners, haulage firms, machinery suppliers, to councils, and

community groups, it is hoped that BISCUIT will increase the competitiveness of remote regions.

BISCUIT uses information gathered and generated by the BioPAD partners, and generates a bespoke report according to initial choices made by the user. This produces a report customised to the users’ interests, whether they lay with one or more fuel type (wood, energy crops, or other biomass), a specific part of the supply chain, or the whole process.

Now publically available, BISCUIT was developed following an analysis of regional supply chains which included the district heating scheme in Wick, Caithness, fuelled with locally sourced woodchips and an anaerobic digestion plant in Creed, Western Isles, which converts household organic waste into renewable energy. l

Bioenergy Insight

technology news

Biogas software tool enables reliable long-term planning A software tool from Italian company BTS Biogas provides a solution for fast, precise analysis of substrate mixtures.

The DinaMetan software enables operators to improve their plants’ input-output ratios and identify potential savings.

‘Our DinaMetan software permits us to increase the efficiency of biogas plants.

With the help of quantitative and qualitative indicators we can optimise the plants, increase their efficiency, and indirectly extend their life cycle,’ comments Michael Niederbacher, GM of BTS Biogas.

The optimisation process begins with infrared analysis (using an NIRS device) of the organic raw materials employed for biogas production (actual values). Every substrate is studied with reference to 26 parameters (protein, starch and carbohydrate content, etc).

BTS Biogas’ DinaMetan is an operating and optimisation software for the substrate mixtures used in biogas power plants

The results of the assessment are then entered into the DinaMetan system. ‘The software employs the raw data to calculate the efficiency of the plant when fed with a specific raw material mix,’ says Niederbacher. ‘It also shows in graphic form where the weaknesses of

a given substrate mixture lie and where adjustments are required (actual to target values). DinaMetan determines the optimum mix of the available substrates and performs real-time calculations of the costs and benefits of the various ratios.’

This technology provides plant operators with a clear

overview of how the same amount of raw material can be employed to produce a greater volume of gas or how the same amount of gas can be produced from less raw material. This allows them to perform the precise profitability calculations that are critical for the successful operation of a biogas plant. l

German energy firm installs moisture analyser from Michell Instruments A Germany-based energy company has chosen to install a moisture analyser from Michell Instruments.

The Promet I.S. process moisture analyser measures moisture levels in biomethane before it is injected into the grid, ensuring that it meets the correct quality standards.

Biogas is saturated with moisture immediately after production, as well as having other undesirable components such as CO2. Before it can be used as a fuel away from the production site, it needs to be scrubbed of the contaminants and dried. When it is

Bioenergy Insight

destined to be upgraded to biomethane and injected into the grid with natural gas, precise measurements of moisture are vital as it will need to meet tight quality standards.

For transmission into the local distribution network in Germany, the biomethane needs to meet the moisture levels permitted by the DVGW G260 Code of Practice. For distribution networks, this is 200mg/m3 at less than 10barg pressure (267 ppm).

The Promet I.S. was selected due to its track record of monitoring moisture during the processing of natural gas, as well as for quality checks of gas in the network and transmission pipeline. It has an accuracy of ±1°C

dew point, and measures reliably in pressures up to 450barg. The unit is certified for hazardous areas around the world, including ATEX, FM, CSA, IECEx as well as GOST. The Promet uses Michell Instruments’ ceramic moisture sensor which is resistant to contamination and provides long-term stability in process applications.

The sensor is part of the company’s sensor exchange programme, which reduces the cost of ownership. With this programme, a freshly calibrated sensor is sent out and swapped for the old sensor that is due to for recalibration, which keeps process down-time to a minimum. l

September/October 2014 • 21

technology news

Whites Concrete installs wall panels at UK biomass plant Pre-cast concrete wall panels manufactured

by Whites Concrete have been installed at a new biomassfired power plant in Pollington in North Yorkshire, UK. Offering fewer restraints from weather conditions compared to cast in-situ concrete, Rockwall also provided main contractor Tolent Construction with reduced cure time at the new £120 million (€153 million) facility.

Producing up to 50,000 tonnes a year of wood pellets from the burning of

360,000 tonnes of locally sourced A, B and C grade waste wood feedstock, the biomass plant will generate 53MW of renewable energy.

Comprising perimeter walls, plus standard and special units for storing and dividing waste wood, the wall panels from Whites Concrete will retain the waste wood before it is processed into pellets.

Recently awarded ISO 14001 for its environmental management procedures, Whites Concrete was also able to offer lower overheads and less build time by using Rockwall.

Tolent Construction’s project manager Tony Collins explains: ‘As well as a competitive

Pre-cast concrete wall panels installed at the bioenergy site in Pollington

price, we were looking for something very durable that could withstand the day to day knocks you would expect at a facility like this.’

White’s Concrete, which also builds tanks for the

AD/biogas sector, has designed its wall units so that retaining sections can be cast into a new concrete base/slabs, or bolted down to a new or existing concrete foundation. l

Secondary conveyor belt cleaner designed for safety and easy maintenance Bulk material handling technology supplier Martin Engineering has designed a secondary conveyor belt cleaner to improve performance and reduce maintenance time.

The Martin SQC2S cleaner features individually cushioned tungsten carbide blades for effective cleaning without risk to the belt or splices. The design forms a single sealing edge that maintains steady, adjustable pressure. Patented rubber buffers maintain the cleaning pressure throughout the blade’s life, while deflecting sufficiently to allow splices to pass without harm and ensuring compatibility with reversing belts or those that experience backup at shutdown. Moving parts are zinc plated to resist

seizing or rusting.

‘The blades conform to the belt profile, adjusting individually to deliver continuous contact across the belt,’ explains Dave Mueller, senior product specialist at Martin Engineering. ‘In a perfect world, bulk materials would load uniformly, wearing the blade evenly, but that rarely happens. By having multiple segments attached to a single rigid assembly, the tension can be maintained and adjusted accurately, quickly and safely.’

The rugged construction is engineered to withstand harsh conditions, such as high belt speeds, high-impact transfers and high tonnage loads.

Designed for a maximum belt speed of 1,000 fpm (5.08m/ sec), the cleaner is suited for belt widths from 18” to 96”.

To match the requirements of specific applications, the unit features straight 5.91” individual blade sections, or 3” individual blade sections, attached to a sturdy square

22 • September/October 2014

The Martin SQC2S secondary belt cleaner is engineered to improve performance and reduce maintenance time

mainframe. Replaceable urethane blades are colourcoded according to their continuous temperature rating, ranging between -40°C to 177°C. Tungsten carbide tips can be specified for normal, acidic or high-impact conditions. The rubber wear strip is supplied in continuous lengths up to 30.48m.

Blade removal and replacement is a simple operation on the SQC2S by removing the lock pin from the main assembly and sliding out the cartridge. The lock pins are a key component to Martin Engineering’s ‘no-reach design’, which allows workers to conduct their lockout/tagout procedure more safely. l

Bioenergy Insight

incident report Bioenergy A summary of the recent major explosions, fires and leaks in the bioenergy industry Date

Location

Company

Incident information

30/09/14

Corpach, Fort William, Scotland

BSW Timber

A 15-tonne machine at one of Europe’s largest timber yards caught fire.

Two fire crews were called to the sawmill blaze to tackle the fire and prevent it from spreading to ‘hundreds of tonnes’ of woodchips on the site.

27/09/14

Rudolfstetten-Friedlisberg, Switzerland

10/09/14

Geertruidenberg, Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands

A biogas plant in the municipality had part of its roof blown off in an explosion. No injuries were reported.

Essent

06/09/14

A fire involving wood and a woodchipper broke out at Lean Quarry, where household waste from Plymouth is dumped.

Ten firefighters battled the blaze.

Liskeard, Cornwall, UK

31/08/14

Wareham, Dorset, UK

An explosion occurred at the Amercentrale power plant while one of the facility’s biomass silos was being filled.

It is believed the problems began on a conveyer belt feeding the silos with woodchips.

Thirty fire engines and a fire boat helped tackle the ensuing blaze, which lasted around four hours. No injuries were reported.

Viridor

Fire crews were called to the Trigon landfill after 300m2 of nonhazardous waste caught alight.

The blaze was reported to have been extinguished on 5 September, with Viridor managing the cooling phase, which includes digging through the burnt waste to remove any hotspots and continuing to saturate the site with water.

A provider of Bulk Materials Handling Solutions

Receiving | Screening | Sizing | Conveying | Stacking | Reclaiming | Ship Loading www.Bruks.com | sales@bruks.com

Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 23

green page Because biomass is worth it The cosmetics industry is most often associated with glitz, glamour and more than a touch of show business. In a rare opportunity to peak behind the veil, one major company has announced a biomassbased milestone that could help keep the planet beautiful as well as its people.

L’Oréal, famously fronted by stars like Cheryl Cole and Jennifer Lopez, has officially inaugurated its new biomass plant in Burgos, northern Spain, which will enable the site specialising in the production of professional hair products to become neutral in CO2 emissions in 2015.

The Burgos biomass plant covers an area of 3,800m2 and will use an estimated 12,000

tonnes per year of waste wood from the forests and sawmills of the Castile-Leon region in the north west of the country.

Thermal energy produced by the biomass plant will equal 20,000MWh/year.

The L’Oréal Burgos site will consume 70% of this quantity, while the remaining 30% will be commercialised amongst other companies in the area. 100% of the electricity produced by the plant will be used by the Burgos site.

The news represents a pioneering initiative in Spain in the industrial field of combining the use of biomass, photovoltaic technology and trigeneration energy. For the first time, a trigeneration facility will supply steam, hot and cold water, and electricity to a manufacturing site and will produce 100% of the energy needs for its manufacturing and packaging processes.

In addition, the biomass plant has photovoltaic

L’Oréal is aiming to reduce its environmental footprint by 60% by 2020

panels which will provide the electricity necessary to achieve carbon neutral status in 2015. The opening of the biomass plant joins other environmental initiatives already undertaken by L’Oréal’s Burgos site in the area of waste management, saving of water and reduction of CO2 emissions.

Designed, constructed and managed by Biocen, a joint venture between private company Cenit Solar and SOMACYL (Public Infrastructure and Environment Company of Castile-Leon), the project represents an investment

of €14.5 million.

Biocen has invested €12 million for the construction of the power plant and L’Oréal the remaining €2.5 million, developing the fluids distribution ring from the biomass plant and adapting the site’s heating and air conditioning system.

The Burgos project is part of L’Oréal’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint by 60% by 2020 as part of its international sustainability programme, ‘Sharing Beauty With All’, announced in October last year. l

Termite technology For all the technological advancements made by humans over the course of history, there are perhaps infinite lessons still to be learnt simply by going back to nature. Way back. A new study looks at fungus-farming termites and their 30-millionyear-old bioreactors.

The study by researchers at the Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen and Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) in states that: ‘Achieving complete breakdown of plant biomass for energy conversion in industrialised bioreactors remains a complex challenge.’

24 • September/October 2014

Fungus-farming termites are dominant plant decomposers in tropical SubSaharan Africa and southeast Asia, where in some areas they decompose up to 90% of all dead plant material.

Plant decomposition genes in the first genome sequencing of a fungusfarming termite and its fungal crop, and bacterial gut communities were analysed. It was found that the success of termite farmers as plant decomposers is due to division of labour between a fungus breaking down complex plant components and gut bacteria contributing enzymes for final digestion.

‘While we have so far focused on the fungus that feeds the termites, it is now clear that termite gut bacteria play a major role in giving the symbiosis its high efficiency,’ says associate professor Michael Poulsen.

‘It took a massive effort of

sequencing the genome of the termite itself, its fungus, and several gut metagenomics to analyse the enzymes involved in plant decomposition,’ adds assistant professor Guojie Zhang.

The researchers found that younger workers eat plant material together with Termitomyces fungal spores, the plant-spore mix of which is defecated as a new layer of fungus garden.

Within the garden, Termitomyces rapidly grows on the plant substrate until it is utilised, after which older termites consume the fungus garden.

By then nearly all organic matter has been broken down, in no small part thanks to the bacteria present in the gut of the termites. Experts believe these new findings could aid the future development of largescale bioreactors — a gargantuan feat for such a tiny creature. l

Bioenergy Insight

regulations Bioenergy Regulation changes benefit UK’s AD sector

Last piece of the puzzle

B

iogas producers will no longer need to obtain permits or pay for waste handling controls to use fruit and vegetable by-products in the anaerobic digestion (AD) process.

Previously, plant operators recycling even a small quantity of such materials in their AD process (e.g. leaves and roots, or produce that is misshapen, bruised or undersized) were required to apply for expensive permits and even implement the same waste handling controls as a commercialscale food waste AD facility.

The Environment Agency confirmed the news on 10 September: ‘AD plants that take feedstocks containing waste require an environmental permit or a relevant exemption. Plants that take only non-waste feedstocks currently do not. Similarly, use of any AD digestate that is classified as waste will require an environmental permit or relevant exemption.

‘For many types of feedstock the question of whether or not they are wastes is very straightforward. For some types of feedstocks, for example crop residues, it is not. There are circumstances where crop residues sent to an AD plant by the producer are by-products (i.e. not waste). Note that energy

Bioenergy Insight

crops (i.e. crops intentionally grown specifically for use as feedstocks for AD plants) are not wastes and are not the subject of this briefing note.

‘Crop residues may or not be wastes, depending on the circumstances. If wastes, they will fall under the 02 01 03 (plant-tissue waste) or 02 03 04 (materials unsuitable for consumption or processing) categories in the List of Wastes (England) Regulations 2005.

‘Crop residues include misshapen, bruised or undersized fruit and vegetables deemed unsuitable for sale as food for consumption; and parts of fruit and vegetables such as leaves, roots and toppings that are removed as part of the processing for sale.’

According to the Environment Agency, crop residues may be regarded as by-products provided that all of the following apply: • They are not mixed with or contain any wastes • They are suitable for use and certain to be used as a feedstock for AD (irrespective of whether the AD plant is on a farm or not) • They can be used directly as an AD feedstock with no additional processing apart from that which might be reasonably expected of energy crops. For example, maceration would be OK, whereas de-packaging or pasteurisation would not

• Their use in AD will not lead to overall adverse environmental or human health impacts.

Operators do not require an environmental permit or exemption either for the operation of the plant or for the beneficial use of the digestate produced, provided that they only take the following feedstocks: • Purpose-grown crops • Crop residues • A mixture of the above.

Where any of the feedstocks consist of or contain waste (e.g. AD plant taking crops and livestock slurry), an environmental permit or exemption is required for the operation of the AD plant.

An environmental permit or exemption is also required for the use of the digestate produced except where: • Its production and use is certified under the digestate Quality Protocol • It is produced only from manure or manure/nonwaste feedstocks and is spread as a fertiliser on agricultural land.

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has been campaigning for this change to the regulations, including a letter sent to Environment Secretary Owen Paterson in June.

In the letter, Nina Skorupska, CEO of REA, wrote: ‘The “outgrades” from a factory processing potatoes for the retail market are classified

as waste and if used in an AD plant mean that the facility, however small, becomes a waste facility and subject to full environmental permitting.

The latter is rightly in place to ensure the safe operation of food waste plants but not necessary where no animal byproduct material is present.

‘In summary, the benefit of taking a safe but simpler regulatory approach is that on-farm and on site AD operators would be able to source abundant, safe, low risk alternatives to energy crops where it was available without unnecessary regulatory burdens on both the regulator and operator.’

Potato producer Branston, for example, is set to benefit from this change.

The company’s innovations director Vidyanath Gururajan commented: ‘This is a step in the right direction for encouraging the fresh produce industry to use AD technology to reduce its carbon emissions.’

The REA’s technical director Jeremy Jacobs said: ‘This regulatory boost will be the final piece in the puzzle for several on-site and on-farm AD projects that had been hanging in the balance. However, this sector is still being stifled by structural problems with the Feed-in Tariff, which disproportionately affects the smaller players in the market.’ l

September/October 2014 • 25

Bioenergy regulations Support is lacking for biomass conversion technologies under the draft Contracts for Difference budget

Draft budget for CfD scheme

T

he UK government has published the draft budget for the new Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, setting out the level of funding that will be available for new renewable power projects under CfDs.

established technologies’ given the need to limit the cost of renewables subsidies to consumers. £155 million (€197.5 million) per year has been distributed to Pot 2, the REA says, rather than to the cheaper, more established technologies (£50

• Established technologies will compete for up to £65 million in support, reflecting the fact that these technologies are already more competitive • Less established technologies will share up to £235 million as the

Average annual investment in renewables has doubled since 2010, with a record breaking £8 billion worth in 2013. By making projects compete for support, we’re making sure that consumers get the best possible deal as well as secure and clean power sector.

Delivery year

£m (2011/12 prices)

15/16

16/17

17/18

18/19

19/20

20/21

CFD Budget (2014 release)

50

205

205

205

205

205

Pot 1 (established technologies)

50

50

50

50

50

50

-

155

155

155

155

155

Pot 2 (less established technologies)

CfD budget release for 2014 allocation round (figures are total support payments available in a given year)

Under the draft budget for the first round of CfD allocation, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) says it does not intend to release further budget for biomass conversions (pot 3), beyond the funding that is allocated through the FIDeR process.

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) responded to this, saying it is ‘very concerned by the lack of funding for biomass conversion technologies’ as it is mainly the technologies in pot 3, as well as pot 1 (e.g. conventional waste-to-energy) that can ‘immediately plug the looming capacity crunch with low carbon generation whilst ensuring value for money for the consumer’.

The REA went on to say that it is ‘surprising’ that the government has allocated ‘three times as time budget to less-

million per year for Pot 1).

The association’s CEO Nina Skorupska said: ‘The limited funding for several key technologies will send shockwaves through the industry. DECC cannot say that this planned budget delivers value for money for the consumer. The best way to square the circle is by properly funding the cheaper technologies and introducing minima for all technologies.’

Following the release of this draft budget in July, the government announced additional budget at the beginning of October when energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey said renewable electricity projects will compete for £300 million in support this autumn — an increase of £95 million from the original budget.

The newly increased budget will be split between different types of technologies:

26 • September/October 2014

government works to help these technologies become competitive.

Davey said: ‘We are transforming the UK’s energy sector, dealing with a legacy of underinvestment to build a new generation of clean, secure power supplies.

The budgets for next year’s auction will be confirmed in 2015, but £50 million more has already been indicated for established technologies, with additional funding potentially available for further projects, including Carbon Capture and Storage, by 2020-2021.’ l

The technology groups

Pot 1

(established technologies): Onshore wind (>5MW), solar photovoltaic (>5MW), energyfrom waste with CHP, hydro (>5MW and <50MW), landfill gas, and sewage gas

Pot 2

(less established technologies): Anaerobic digestion, dedicated biomass with CHP, advanced conversion technologies, offshore wind, Scottish islands onshore wind, wave, and tidal stream

Pot 3

(biomass conversion)

Bioenergy Insight

wood pellets in Canada Bioenergy

Wooden it be lovely

T

Gordon Murray from the Wood Pellet Association of Canada talks to Keeley Downey about the nation’s expanding pellet production capacity

here is no sign of a slowing market when it comes to wood pellets, and Europe’s insatiable demand for this solid biofuel has seen it become a major contributor to Canada’s bioeconomy. More and more pellet factories are popping up across the country and exports are through the roof as some Asian nations begin to realise the importance of slashing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The question is when will Canada — one of the world’s largest wood pellet producers and exporters — look closer to home when it comes to renewable energy consumption?

Q

How many tonnes of wood pellets is Canada producing at the moment?

A

Gordon Murray

Bioenergy Insight

We’re producing in the range of 2 million tonnes a year. This doesn’t quite match the explosive growth in the US at the moment but production volumes are growing steadily and will continue to do so with a number of new plants at various stages of development across Canada right now.

Wood fibre processing

company Rentech is in the process of commissioning its two Ontario-based facilities totalling more than 500,000 tonnes of wood pellets. There are also three new plants in British Columbia that are well advanced into the planning stages. One of these is owned by a joint venture between Pinnacle Renewable Energy and Tolko Industries and located near the city of Vernon. Canfor and Pacific Bioenergy have also formed a partnership and together are developing the other two plants in British Columbia; in Chetwynd and Fort St. John.

These projects are all very credible and there’s every likelihood they will go ahead.

Canfor, for example, already owns one pellet production plant in partnership with Pinnacle, while Pacific Bioenergy operates a large wood pellet plant in Prince

George — one of the largest in Canada. These projects alone could double Canada’s wood pellet output within the next 18 to 24 months.

Q

In the past, a lack of biomass infrastructure in Canada’s eastern provinces meant production in this region was on an extremely small scale.

Is this still the case?

A

Recently, there has been a significant change with regards to eastern Canada’s contribution to the nation’s wood pellet output.

Quebec Stevedoring, for instance, has built two large storage domes at the Port of Quebec which can handle in the region of 1 million

“The Asian market is currently experiencing some growth, especially in South Korea where growth has been quite rapid. That said, South Korea is an awkward place to do business.”

September/October 2014 • 27

Bioenergy wood pellets in Canada tonnes of pellets in total.

Rentech will transport its pellets to the Port of Quebec via rail as part of a long-term contract it has in place with CN Rail. My understanding is that these pellets will then be shipped from Quebec to the Drax power station in the UK.

Q

How many tonnes of wood pellets are being shipped outside of Canada and where are the key markets?

A

Last year around 1.8 million tonnes of Canada’s wood pellets were exported.

I think that figure could hit 2 million tonnes this year, meaning around 90% is sold overseas. The bulk of these shipments are headed for Europe, around 10% go to the US, and a further 10% to Asia.

The Asian market is currently experiencing some growth, especially in South Korea where growth has been quite rapid, and there have been increased shipments from Canada’s west coast to this region. There are six utilities there that are purchasing around 95% of all pellets reaching Asia’s shores.

Despite this, South Korea is an awkward place to do business. Its power utilities are government owned and all wood pellets are acquired through a tendering system, rather than under long-term contracts like in Europe.

This makes it difficult for producers in Canada, or anywhere else for that matter, to build a business plan because of the uncertainty that comes with not knowing if they’ve been successful on the next tender. Smallersized business cannot afford to operate in this way.

What’s happening now is Canada is continuing to sell through its contracts with European utilities and it is those utility companies, which have more liquidity, that are participating in the Korean tenders. So when

Canada is currently producing around 2 million t/y of pellets

Canada ships to South Korea, it’s often indirectly through its contracts with the power firms located in Europe.

They may choose, and have been choosing, to divert the cargoes and, rather than take them to Europe, have been putting them into Asia. This is a good partnership and we’re grateful to the EU utilities for making this work. It’s a win-win situation and Canada remains able to honour its long-term contracts.

In 2012, around 5,000 tonnes of Canadian wood pellets were delivered to Asia.

This rose to 113,000 tonnes last year and this year, in the first six months alone,

Japanese shipments are also up, but only slightly, and this market hasn’t taken off in the way we’d hoped. The main reason for this is the large number of installed fluidised bed boilers, which are more suited to biomass such as woodchips, rather than pulverised fuel.

Q

Has the rocky biomass sector in Europe affected Canada’s exports there at all?

A

There has been some unsettlement across parts of Europe recently. In

“Canada’s governments have not taken global warming seriously. Canada is a big fossil fuel producing country and mitigating GHG emissions hasn’t yet reached the top of the agenda.” we have already shipped 170,000 tonnes of pellets there. That just shows the level of growth. Surprisingly, Canada is the second largest exporter of wood pellets to Asia, after Vietnam. Other countries include Russia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

28 • September/October 2014

the UK, which has been the source of the biggest amount of growth in terms of biomass consumption, the industry has faced uncertainty around the Contracts for Difference (CfDs). This has led to unknowns for the Eggborough power station and controversy

over the third boiler at Drax.

And in Belgium, green certificates for Electrabel’s Green Max power plant in Ghent were temporarily stopped. This has now been resolved but did mean the plant was offline for the majority of this year. There have also been some issues in the Netherlands and even in Denmark where utilities have been hesitant to proceed with any coalto-biomass conversions.

As each of these issues has been settled in recent months, we are starting to see more stability and growth in Europe.

Q

Do you see Canada’s domestic consumption of wood pellets growing any time soon?

A

The governments here have not taken global warming seriously so I do think it will grow, but very slowly.

Canada is a big fossil fuel producing country and it has a strong fossil fuel culture; mitigating GHG emissions hasn’t reached the top of the agenda yet and those that are concerned about GHGs are still in the vast minority.

It will be a hard sell for wood pellets to break that mindset.

Next year new standards will come into place across Canada to lower GHG emissions from coal plants.

Coal plants will be limited to 420 tonnes of CO2 per GWh of electricity generated.

Despite this, I’m at a bit of a loss to explain what’s going on because, from my observations, it’s been business as usual and the power companies are not making any move towards finding an alternative. I can only speculate what the strategy is there, but they’re not making any movement to comply and we’re obviously very disappointed by this.

Secondly, these new enforcements only apply to

Bioenergy Insight

wood pellets in Canada Bioenergy new plants and plants that are 45 years old and more. There is a dated coal power fleet in Canada and, as many of the units do exceed 45 years, these will be immediately affected. However, there are also newer units which have a number of operating years ahead of them before they need to comply.

As of earlier this year, Ontario became Canada’s first fossil-free province. Four coal power plants came offline and the Atikokan Generating Station was converted to firing biomass — we’re absolutely delighted to see that they did make the conversion and that it’s up and running.

However, Ontario has a strong supply of hydro and nuclear energy so I don’t think they miss the power that much.

Also, Atikokan will be used as a peaking plant, meaning it will operate for about 10% of the time and be shut down for the rest. To that extent it’s a bit disappointing.

That said, it [Atikokan GS] is the first significant coal-tobiomass conversion in North America so we’re hoping that all eyes will be on it and the coal sector will watch to see how well it works.

I also think Alberta may consider similar renewable energy projects in an attempt to shed its image as a filthy, oil spewing province.

As of 15 September this year, Alberta has a new Premier and he is starting to discuss the potential of limiting emissions from coal-fired power stations.

This is extremely recent and we’re hoping this could revive interest in biomass.

very interesting, however.

Diacarbon Energy, for example, is developing a torrefaction plant which will sell its product to the cement industry in British Columbia.

This is an intriguing project.

In the grand scheme of things it’s quite small but, on the

E.On, GDF Suez, RWE and Vattenfall) on the Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP).

This organisation is developing a new sustainability certification system that will eventually become third party verified. The WPAC is not an official partner, but

“Atikokan GS is the first significant coal-to-biomass conversion in North America. We’re hoping that all eyes will be on this plant and the coal sector will watch to see how well it works.” other hand, big things always come from small starts so we’re watching that one with lots of interest and wish them all the best of success.

Q

What ventures are the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) pursuing right now?

A

What we’re really focused on as an association right now is biomass sustainability verification and certification. This is at the top of the agenda.

We are working closely with Europe’s large utility companies (Dong Energy, Drax,

we are in favour of it and are what you would call a ‘participating observer’.

That means we attend all the meetings and provide input as the standard is created, but the final decision making rests with the members of the partnership — the utilities.

The new standards and processes being set out under the SBP will allow companies to demonstrate their compliance with legal, regulatory and sustainability requirements for woody biomass. It won’t duplicate the existing certification schemes (e.g. FSC and PEFC) but will incorporate different elements such as those for sustainable forest management certification, for

example. It will consolidate all the biomass certification requirements from all the EU Member States. The ultimate goal is for it to gain public acceptance as an independent third party certification programme, and we are really eager to see it become the widely accepted system in Europe.

We’re currently working on the first version. It is complete and currently undergoing slight modifications. We are in the process of implementing the first audits and first certifications with the intent of having a publishable version within the next month or two.

Another important issue that the WPAC is currently very focused on is safety, and in particular the dangers of combustible dust. Dust is extremely dangerous and explosive so we’ve made it a top priority of ours to really hone in on safe handling practices. This includes making sure proper dust extraction systems are installed at all our plants, ensuring the plants are designed and maintained correctly to avoid dust build up, proper housekeeping, and educating workers. We are committed to obtaining a state within our industry where zero incidents occur as a result of dust explosions. We want to operate safe plants.

In conclusion…

Right now, at least, Canada is dedicated to producing millions of tonnes of wood pellets for export to other countries. That’s the model for the moment and there is nothing on the short-term horizon that’s going to change that in a huge way. l

Q

Could torrefaction technology play a role going forwards?

A

There is endless talk about torrefaction but the problem is that it has not yet been demonstrated on a large scale. There are some smaller projects underway that look

Bioenergy Insight

New infrastructure in eastern Canada means wood pellets are being produced across the country

For more information:

Gordon Murray is the executive director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada. Visit: www.pellet.org

September/October 2014 • 29

Bioenergy profile Ontario Power Generation’s Atikokan facility has resumed operations as a biomass plant that can produce up to 205MW at full capacity — the first of its kind in Canada A painting of Atikokan GS by Wendy Wood

Life after coal

I

n September this year, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) announced its Atikokan Generating Station was operating on biomass — almost two years since the plant ceased operating and work began on converting it from coal.

Today it is the largest capacity power plant in North America to be fuelled by 100% biomass.

Since 2005, OPG has taken offline approximately 7,500MW of coal-fired generation. In 2007, Ontario’s government announced that the province would cease firing coal to generate electricity by 31 December 2014. OPG is wholly owned

by the government of Ontario and generates about half of the electricity for the region.

Built in 1985, the Atikokan facility is still ‘relatively young’, Chris Fralick, Regional Plant Manager, Northwest Operations, tells Bioenergy Insight. For that reason, OPG began looking at the possibility of converting it into a biomass power station.

The decision to keep Atikokan GS operational has also maintained existing jobs, as well as created new ones. Around 300 jobs became available during the construction and retrofit stage of the project. The conversion also helped create about 100

30 • September/October 2014

jobs in the fuel supply chain.

‘The plant still has a lot of life left in it,’ Fralick says. ‘For that reason OPG started looking at life after coal and learning more about biomass. The impetus to make this shift was the province’s decision to move away from this fossil fuel.’

Ontario is leading the way when it comes to helping reduce Canada’s CO2 emissions and working towards future energy needs. Since it was established in 2005 to expand the production of alternative energy, the Green Energy Act (GEA) has sparked growth in various forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy,

solar, hydro and wind. Wind alone is generating around 2,000MW for Ontarians today.

A sophisticated design The plant will handle 90,000 tonnes a year of wood pellets: 45,000 tonnes will be supplied by Rentech and the other 45,000 tonnes will come from Resolute Forest Products Canada. Both plants are currently being commissioned and will begin transporting biomass within the next few weeks, and will continue to do so under a 10-year agreement with OPG. With both the Rentech and Resolute pellet factories based

Bioenergy Insight

profile Bioenergy in north western Ontario, all biomass delivered to Atikokan GS will be via self-unloading, rear discharge trucks. From here the pellets will be transported on a conveyor belt and bucket elevator to one of the two 42m x 21m silos, each capable of storing up to 5,000 tonnes of wood fuel.

Speaking about the stateof-the-art silos, Fralick reveals: ‘These silos are very sophisticated pieces of equipment fitted with extensive safety features.

These include 3D temperature and moisture monitoring, aeration injection and inert gas injection capabilities, recirculation capabilities, and dust extraction systems.’

A unique helical chute has also been fitted inside each of the storage facilities, designed to reduce the impact a 42m drop would have on the pellets. This prevents them from breaking and creating unwanted dust.

‘Pellets ride down to the bottom. This helps control the fall, all with the aim of minimising dust creation,’ Fralick says. ‘Fire prevention is the number one consideration, no question.’

The retrofit, which was completed on time and on budget, cost $170 million (€135 million) and included both modifications of existing technology and the construction of new infrastructure. In addition to the new silos, a truck receiving and transfer

Converting Atikokan GS to handle wood pellets has maintained existing jobs and created new ones

system was built, conveyor belts and bucket elevators installed and new ash transport systems fitted.

‘The new standalone material handling and receiving system was the biggest component of this project,’ says Fralick.

‘The existing coal handling equipment was not adequate to safely handle wood pellet biomass and that led us to design a new material handling system.’

Modifications to the boiler were made, which included replacing the 15 burners. Once inside the powerhouse, the pellets are pulverised and fed into the boiler, much the same way as coal was previously.

Due to the similar heat content of lignite coal and wood pellets, the Atikokan

Atikokan GS has been converted to handle wood pellets for the production of renewable power

Bioenergy Insight

boiler design was suitable for this fuel conversion.

‘As the unit was originally designed for coal, it is a pulverised fuel boiler which requires very fine particles.

For that reason the wood pellets are broken down into constituent particles beforehand,’ Fralick explains.

‘If we were building a biomass plant from scratch, we would install a standalone biomass boiler such as a fluidised bed, for example.

But we wanted to use as much use of the unit’s core capabilities as possible and this helped us contain the cost of the project.’

At its peak Atikokan GS is a ‘peaking plant’ — a backup power station that operates when

there are high levels of demand for electricity or shortfalls in electricity supply — that will provide dispatchable, renewable energy when it is required.

But OPG, at the forefront of this innovative technology, is not stopping there. Plans are already in place to convert the fuel at another one of its plants, Thunder Bay Generating Station, from coal to advanced biomass wood pellets.

According to Fralick, Thunder Bay GS — which stopped firing coal in April this year — ‘is currently being retrofitted to use advanced biomass’. The remaining two generating stations, Lambton and Nanticoke, have been ‘placed in safe shutdown state and will remain in place with the potential to be converted to clean fuel in the future, if required’.

‘Our Atikokan conversion project was executed safely and completed on time and on budget,’ states Fralick. ‘It has been an extensive endeavour, for which we have received tremendous support from all of our local stakeholders. We are proud that the Atikokan facility is the first of its kind in North America.’

With its Atikokan GS, OPG is certainly setting the pace for North America’s biomass industry. l

September/October 2014 • 31

Bioenergy profile North America’s first zoo-based biogas plant is slated to be up and running by Q4 2015. Keeley Downey finds out how the project is progressing

From zoo poo to power

Z

ooShare is building North America’s first zoo-based biogas plant at Toronto Zoo, in Ontario, Canada. The company was founded in 2011 as a nonprofit renewable energy cooperative, by executive director Daniel Bida.

The plant, which will be ZooShare’s first biogas project, will produce 500kW of renewable energy from 3,000 tonnes of manure sourced from the zoo and 14,000 tonnes of food waste from Canada’s largest supermarket.

The company anticipates to break ground by July next year and, with a fast construction period of just six months, operations will start in December the same year.

Talking to Bioenergy Insight, Bida says: ‘The plant will be built on a turnkey basis with an engineering firm overseeing the technology players. We’ve already started the process of signing an EPC contract.’

It was the Toronto Zoo that first set the wheels in motion for this project when it announced it wanted to build a biogas plant (initially with a capacity ranging between 3MW and 5MW.) However, when the call for proposals failed to return any suitable bids, ZooShare proposed to build a smaller, community-owned plant and won the right to develop.

Interestingly, the zoo and the supermarket were in talks before ZooShare entered the project. Bida explains: ‘Most of the energy for this plant will come from local grocery stores. It was always understood by all parties involved that a large supply of organics would be needed

An illustration showing the biogas plant planned for Toronto Zoo

to fuel the plant, and that was either going to come from the municipality or a large commercial player.’

The animal manure from the zoo will be collected a few times a week, put into a hopper and pumped through the system, where it will be mixed with food waste from the supermarket. The latter will arrive at the site in liquid slurry form via tanker trucks before being pumped through a hose into the biogas digester. The operator of the plant will be a graduate of Guelph University’s biogas plant programme.

over $1.2 million had been raised in less than a year.

In total, over $2 million has been raised to date as ZooShare has also been awarded two grants, including $375,000 from the Community Energy Partnership Program and a further

$40,000 from the Toronto Community Foundation.

‘We’re aiming to raise $2.2 million from the bond sales and compliment this with commercial debt to actually build the facility,’ Bida explains.

‘The total amount we’re

Short and concise ZooShare is looking to raise $5 million (€4 million) to fund the development of the zoo-biogas plant. The majority of this will come from ZooShare bonds, which earn an annual return of 7%. As of September 2014,

32 • September/October 2014

ZooShare’s executive director Daniel Bida

Bioenergy Insight

profile Bioenergy aiming for is $5 million.’

While fund raising for the biogas plant looks to be moving ahead successfully, Bida reveals that it has not always been plain sailing.

‘Selling the bonds has actually been one of the biggest challenges for us in developing this project,’ he says. ‘The need for education during the sales process, clarifying the technical terminology and creating context is difficult. And all this needs to come before we can say “we’re selling these bonds at 7% annual return and you can be a part of it.”’

After additional market research, ZooShare changed tactic.

‘We needed to simplify the messages we were communicating to people so that just the key points were getting across. That’s made a huge impact,’ says Bida. ‘For example, we simplified the explanation of “biogas” and started referring to it as “recycling”, so we recycle waste into energy.

And then, very much like what’s happening in the recycling industry, people get behind the project without fully understanding how the technology works because that’s the level of technicality needed. It has really changed peoples’ perception because our message now is short and concise yet informative so interested parties can consider the investment.’

Raising awareness According to figures from Canada’s Biogas Association, 34 biogas plants are up and running in Ontario today and, according to Bida, knowledge about the sector is sparse outside of the farming community. ZooShare is dedicated to raising awareness about how waste can be turned into energy.

In addition to educating through its bond sales, the company is strongly supportive of school

Bioenergy Insight

The biogas process

programmes in order to teach pupils the basics relating to anaerobic digestion and the advantages of this technology.

ZooShare currently provides lessons in grade 7 classrooms and, when the biogas plant enters service, is also looking to supplement these with zoo trips including a tour of the plant.

‘We would like to have ongoing tours around the site,’ says Bida. ‘School groups can come for a trip to the zoo, speak to the keepers, meet the animals and then learn where the animal waste goes.’ He adds: ‘Signage is also an important part of increasing the profile of this project and the industry in general. We have a few signs around the zoo now and there will also be some permanent signage set up when the plant officially opens.’

A by-product of this biogas operation will be fertiliser, between 2,000 and 3,000 tonnes annually. With plans to package the odourfree fertiliser for sale in garden centres, this offers another opportunity for ZooShare to promote both its brand and the project.

‘The grocery store that’s providing feedstock to the plant has an option to purchase this fertiliser from us,’ Bida reveals.

‘It operates a number of garden centres around the region and we think that makes for a nice fit.’

An opportunity for growth By the end of 2015 Zooshare hopes its zoo-biogas plant will be generating 500kW of renewable energy. Under a power purchase agreement, 100% of this electricity will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority where it will power approximately 250 homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of removing 2,100 cars from the road each year.

However, with the potential of expanding this site to a total 1MW, Bida reveals that

in future some of this energy could be used to power the zoo. ‘We want to get this first phase complete,’ he says, ‘and make sure it is a success. Then we can start thinking about expanding.’

Building additional biogas plants could also be on the horizon for ZooShare. Bida explains: ‘In the future we will pay back our bond holders and then look reinvest our surplus capital into more projects.

We have already studied the market across North America to identify other zoos where a similar such facility could be successful.’

Right now, at least, ZooShare is taking it one step at a time and remains dedicated to growing the profile of this niche biogas market and increasing knowledge and awareness.

Summing up, Bida comments: ‘We want more people to become aware of biogas, recycling and the value of waste. We’d really like to see increased levels capital spent on establishing more projects in Toronto.

By raising awareness, development will come.’ l

ZooShare will generate revenue in three ways:

1

Sell electricity to the Ontario grid By recycling 3,000 tonnes of manure and 14,000 tonnes of inedible food waste, ZooShare will create 4.1 million kWh of renewable electricity each year for the Ontario grid. This electricity will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority under the terms of a 20-year Feed-in Tariff contract.

2

Charge to recycle organic waste ZooShare’s 10-year contract with Canada’s largest supermarket ensures a regular supply of fuel for the zoo-biogas plant and diversifies its revenue stream by adding per tonne ‘tipping fees’ for each tonne of organic waste recycled.

3

Sell a by-product At the end of the recycling process, the organic waste will be transformed into a nutrient-rich fertiliser, to be sold to consumers and farmers. Fertiliser sales make up a minor, yet valuable, portion of total revenues.

September/October 2014 • 33

Bioenergy profile Canada’s first integrated biorefinery paves the way for future renewable energy projects

Going against the grain

C

by Natasha Spencer

lean Energy Canada, a solutions-focused initiative working to accelerate Canada’s transition to an energy efficient, low-carbon economy, has recently released a report suggesting that the nation is ‘looking the other way’ when it comes to renewable energy projects. Last year, $207 billion (€165 billion) were spent worldwide on the renewable energy transition, yet Canada only accounted for $6.5 billion of this sum.

One company championing Canada’s renewable energy market is biofuels producer Growing Power Hairy Hill (GPHH), which has built the country’s first integrated biorefinery in Edmonton in the province of Alberta.

Speaking to Bioenergy Insight, GPHH’s director Bern Kotelko says: ‘With global warming and climate control becoming such a prevalent issue, we saw an

opportunity to join the US and Europe in promoting the use of bioenergy.’

The facility was commissioned in 2005 and began operating in the same year, after GPHH decided to take advantage of Canada’s decision to pay a premium to those companies investing in the production of renewable energy, offsetting the costs of construction and production.

‘The prospect of becoming the first integrated biorefinery in Canada appealed as it added immense value to our agricultural activity,’ Kotelko adds.

Step by step The biorefinery started life as a 5MW biogas plant, built to handle the waste manure generated from GPHH’s 30,000-strong cattle feed yard.

‘We knew we wanted to use the waste accumulated to its full potential, but we needed

Canada’s cold conditions make it difficult to handle manure through the whole year

34 • September/October 2014

to figure out how to dispose of it,’ explains Kotelko.

The plant was designed to handle 200 tonnes a day of manure and rubbish collected from around the city of Edmonton.

Energy is produced using an Integrated bioMass Utilization System (IMUS) from Himark Biogas. This system, suitable for handling high-solids, highfibre organic materials such as municipal wastes, food residues and manure, uses a special microorganism which breaks down organic waste material and releases biogas as a result.

The IMUS technology, Kotelko reveals, is highly scalable. It is currently operating in 5MW and 10MW facilities in the US and Ontario, respectively.

Patented in 2005, it has enabled GPHH to receive value from its efforts in R&D, and license it to other users.

The raw biogas is then converted into renewable electricity and steam in GPHH’s

bioUtility, with some excess heat remaining. A portion of the electricity is used to power various processes within the plant, with the remaining sold to the national grid.

Following the establishment of its biogas plant, GPHH then expanded the facility with the addition of a 40 million litre per year wheat-to-ethanol production plant, built in 2012.

This created a use for the waste heat generated during the biogas process, which is now placed back into the plant and used in the fermentation and distillation stages.

The company plans to sell its ethanol into both the US state of California and the Canadian province of British Columbia, creating an ongoing revenue stream, as both these regions are implementing the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). Set up in 2007 and administered through the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the LCFS seeks to lower greenhouse gases by requiring producers to reduce the carbon intensity of their products.

‘A necessary blend mandate is in place, as without it, there would be no renewable energy produced. Oil companies do not like competition and so would not take the time or effort to blend the petrol with any other substance,’ says Kotelko.

Both British Columbia and California will now pay a premium to access the ethanol produced during the integrated process, creating an opportunity for a premium revenue stream.

In addition to green energy and renewable transportation fuel, the plant also produces 30,000 tonnes of premium, bio-based fertiliser.

Bioenergy Insight

profile Bioenergy The facility cost $100 million to build and was financed through a combination of grants, debts and funding.

Despite this capital ‘soon becoming gobbled up in R&D, the biorefinery would not have been possible without it’, Kotelko says. ‘It provided us with a high profile opportunity for commercialisation’.

Nevertheless, such an investment could be in vain given the problems natural gas is currently causing for the biogas sector. Natural gas in Canada is readily available and low in cost, making it difficult to justify paying for the more expensive option of upgraded methane.

Future developments

Plastic is not fantastic One of the key issues Canada’s biogas sector is up against right now is the sheer volume of plastic making its way into digester tanks. Between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic carrier bags alone are thrown away annually in Canada, with approximately 55 million bags taken home each week. Plastic, which takes up to a year to degrade, can clog AD plants and cause costly downtime.

‘This is the biggest challenge facing the country’s anaerobic digesters and renewable energy efforts,’ Kotelko explains.

However, the nation is taking

GPHH’s biorefinery started life as a 5MW biogas plant

steps to mitigate this problem and last year began separating urban organic materials from non-biodegradable waste.

Several different initiatives surrounding the use of plastic bags are also underway. These include outright bans, phasing them out and replacing them with bags of other material, charging a fee per bag and education measures.

Another difficulty being felt by GPHH and the rest

of Canada’s biogas industry is caused by the country’s notoriously harsh winters. The cold climate can linger for up to five months in Canada and freezing conditions make it difficult to collect and process manure.

With that, Kotelko says GPHH has looked at Europeanmanufactured AD plants, which process liquid substrates. This feedstock can be successfully handled all year round.

‘With the biorefinery up and running, our goal is to continue to operate efficiently. We are hoping to see other countries actively utilise biomass and aid the development of agriculture,’ adds Kotelko.

GPHH has no plans at present to build a new biorefinery, but will be an integral force in the engineering and licensing of future biorefineries. In the last nine years, Kotelko stresses that his company has been ‘streamlining material handling, foreign materials and continuing with the deliverance of biomass’. l

Stay informed

For news on the latest plants and regulations please subscribe free of charge to our electronic weekly newsletter: www.biofuels-news.com/newsletter.html

If you would like your company’s news to feature in this please contact: margaret@biofuels-news.com (+44 20 8687 4126) Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 35

Bioenergy plant update

Plant update — Canada Canfor/Pacific Bioenergy

Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition Project completion date Investment Comment

Chetwynd/Fort St. John, British Columbia Wood pellets 175,000 tonnes (combined) Sawmill residuals Construction of two wood pellet plants at each respective site Q3/Q4 2015 $58 million (€45.6 million) The total investment will include electrical self-generation capacity of 3MW supported through BC Hydro’s Power Smart Load Displacement Program

Dalkia Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition Designer / builder Project start date Investment

Fort St. James, British Columbia Biopower 40MW Biomass Construction Iberdrola Engineering February 2014 The plant will be financed by Fengate Capital Management

Dalkia Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition Completion date Investment

Comment

Merritt, British Columbia Biopower 40MW 307,000 tonnes of sawmill waste Construction October 2016 $180 million (€142.3 million). The plant will be financed by Fengate Capital Management The project will sell power to BC Hydro under a 30-year purchase agreement

36 • September/October 2014

Greenleaf Power

Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition Project start date Comment

Saint-Félicien, Quebec Biopower 21MW Biomass Acquisition of the Saint-Félicien cogeneration power plant October 2013 (announced) Hydro-Quebec will buy the renewable power generated at the Saint-Félicien plant under a longterm agreement

Lethbridge Biogas/Climate Change and Emissions Management Corp (CCEMC) Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Project completion date Investment Comment

Alberta, Canada Biogas 2.8MW Manure and other organic waste Opened in December 2013 $30 million (€21.8 million) Generating capacity could be expanded to 4.2MW in the future with the addition of new generating units

Millar Western Forest Products Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition

Designer / builder

Project completion date Comment

Whitecourt pulp mill, Alberta Biogas 6MW Recovered organic material Integration of anaerobic hybrid digesters into the pulp mill’s existing aerobic effluent treatment system Pöyry has been awarded the assignment for engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services August 2015 Biogas will be used to fuel two reciprocating engines that will produce renewable green power for use by the mill itself.

Recovered heat of engine exhaust gas will be used in pulp drying to reduce the use of natural gas

Bioenergy Insight

plant update Bioenergy Ontario Power Generation Location Alternative fuel Feedstock

Construction / expansion / acquisition

Project start date Completion date

Atikokan, Ontario Biopower Wood pellets purchased from Rentech and Resolute Forest Products Atikokan Generating Station has converted to become the largest power plant in North America fuelled by 100% biomass September 2012 September 2014

Rentech Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition

Project start date Completion date Investment

Pinnacle Renewable Energy/Coast Tsimshian Resources (CTR) Location Alternative fuel Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition Project start date

Terrace, British Columbia Wood pellets Waste wood and fibre Construction of a wood pellet plant December 2013 (announced)

Scotia Atlantic Biomass (a subsidiary of Viridis Energy) Location Alternative fuel Construction / expansion / acquisition

Pinnacle Renewable Energy and Tolko Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition Investment Comment

Vernon, British Columbia Wood pellets 250,000 tonnes a year Waste wood The plant will be built across from the Lavington sawmill $39 million (€28 million) Pellets manufactured at the new facility will be transported to the west coast via rail, where they will then be exported overseas

Investment Comment

Resolute Forest Products Location Alternative fuel Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition Project start date Completion date Investment Comment

Thunder Bay, Ontario Wood pellets Waste wood The plant will be built adjacent to the company’s Thunder Bay sawmill November 2012 2014 C$10 million (€7.1 million) The company has signed a 10-year agreement to supply Ontario Power Generation with 45,000 tonnes of pellets annually

Wawa, Ontario/Atikokan, Ontario Wood pellets 360,000 tonnes/125,000 tonnes Wood fibre Rentech acquired woodchip processor Fulghum Fibres and two facilities in Ontario for conversion to the production of wood pellets 2013 2014 Approximate total net purchase price of $112 million (€88.6 million)

Nova Scotia, Canada Wood pellet plant Purchase of new capital equipment to improve production facilities at the wood pellet production plant C$517,520 (€340,000) Capital will be used specifically to purchase a truck dumper with a 6,200 cubic ft. hopper and an Intalogix weigh scale designed to improve the unloading of fibre, increase the types of trucks and sources that can be utilised and increase the amount of fibre delivered per truck load by up to 40%. In addition, Viridis will purchase a de-stoner to improve the quality of material through the process, enhancing the Scotia plant’s productivity and output quality while ensuring less downtime

TimberWest Forest Location Alternative fuel Capacity Feedstock Construction / expansion / acquisition Project start date Project completion date Investment Comment

Vancouver Island Nanaimo, British Columbia Wood pellets 200,000 tonnes Fibre material sourced from the forestry and manufacturing sectors Construction of a wood pellet production plant Q4 2014 2015 $60 million (€44 million) If the project goes ahead, it will be the first of its kind to be located in coastal British Columbia

*This list contains major plant projects in Canada, including the information available at the time of printing. If you would like to update or list any additional plants in future issues please email keeley@bioenergy-news.com

Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 37

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Pick us, here’s why: • Well established magazine • Each issue sent to over 18,000 international industry leaders • Dedicated editorial team supplying in depth technology pieces • Electronic e-zine reaching 12,000 subscribers • Up to date and relevant articles/news affecting the industry • Distributed at industry leading events across the world Advertising Deadline: 14th November

Email us now for a copy of our 2015 media pack

November issue features include: • Dust extraction/explosion prevention/ spark detection/dust aspiration systems • Air emissions • Biomass densification • Bio-based chemicals/biorefineries • BtL/biodiesel production • Gasification • Feedstock focus: Oil palm biomass Regional focus: Asia & Africa Bonus distribution: The BIOGAS International Convention and Trade Fair (German Biogas Association)

For advertising info please contact: Anisha Patel, anisha@bioenergy-news.com, +44 (0) 203 551 5752 Matt Weidner, mtw@weidcom.com +1 610 486 6525 (North America)

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finance Bioenergy Whether a community energy project looking to raise funds, or an investor considering renewable energy opportunities, what are the risks associated with crowd funding?

Crowd funding for community energy

I

t is almost impossible to go a day without hearing the term ‘crowd funding’. More often than not it is being credited with getting an unlikely project off the ground or helping an inventor turn vision into reality, when traditional funding sources proved difficult to attract.

However, what is perhaps less well regarded is the growing role it could now play in the energy sector, particularly in supporting community energy projects.

In fact, earlier this year the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced it was considering a range of new and innovative measures to help resolve the funding issues that many community energy projects encounter, with crowd funding being among them.

When the opportunities are structured correctly and marketed on the right online platform, to the right potential investors, crowd funding offers an efficient and reliable way of initiating projects. However, there are a significant number of failures and crowd funding projects can be expensive when things go wrong.

From some recent notable successes, it is apparent the public investor has an appetite to get involved in relatively small-scale and medium-sized community energy projects.

Bioenergy Insight

So, if you are a community energy project and are struggling to raise the necessary start-up finance locally, or if you are an investor looking to diversify your portfolio by investing in renewable energy or energy efficiency opportunities, what should you consider before getting involved?

What is it?

Crowd funding uses online platforms to raise investment for a wide range of projects, typically with four categories of funding: • Equity funding — investors take shares/an equity stake in the project in return for investment • Loan-based funding (peer

to peer) — investors loan monies direct to the project • Reward funding — investors receive a specific reward related to the project, like a signed copy of the album or film DVD, etc • Donation funding — investors receive nothing in return for their contribution (usually associated with charities).

Interestingly, Abundance Generation, a leading renewable energy crowd funding company, has slightly modified the loan-based funding structure by offering unsecured debenture with a 20-25 year life that pay a cash return twice a year.

Unlike shares in a company, these debentures should not attract stamp duty on

transfer, but investors must recognise there is a limited secondary market if they wish to realise their investment.

What is a platform?

There are a number of websites which have been established for the sole purpose of providing access to the public, to attract retail investors as well as professional and institutional investors.

These platforms advertise each opportunity on their website and forward any investment funds received directly to the individual or business that owns the project seeking funding.

In return, the platform will typically charge the project

September/October 2014 • 39

Bioenergy finance an upfront fee for the use of their platform, typically ranging from 0.5% to 2.5% of the funds raised, together with an ongoing monitoring fee depending on the type of crowd funding arrangement.

The platform may also charge an upfront fee to the investor, which might be either per transaction or as a member of the platform, together with an exit fee should the investor wish to realise or transfer their investment.

What are the benefits?

For community projects, crowd funding provides an alternate source of finance to the more traditional banking, private equity via share offers, or governmental funding sources. It could bridge the gap by providing start-up finance for a project, before a more localised community share offer is issued or could be an alternative if a project cannot raise sufficient finance locally.

Importantly, depending on the structure of the crowd funding investment, the project may avoid having to give security over its assets, which would be a pre-requisite for any bank’s involvement. Equally, the project could avoid a heavy dilution in the equity share capital which one might expect from a third party private equity/venture capital investor, and can set its own investment terms, to the extent it remains commercially attractive to crowd funding investors.

For investors, crowd funding is often seen as an opportunity to diversify their investment portfolio.

Platform fees tend to be lower than investing through a managed fund, such as an investment trust and it also gives the investor a more hands-on feel to the transaction, particularly if the structure is peer-to-peer.

A further benefit is that crowd funding can offer easier access to projects which

might otherwise have been restricted to professional investors, either through a restriction to the type of investor or a high minimum investment. Abundance offers retail investors an individual minimum investment of just £5 (€6.30).

Finally, in certain circumstances, it can be possible to wrap the investment tax efficiently, through the Enterprise Investment Scheme/Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme or SIPP, and still claim government incentives.

What are the risks?

Unquestionably the risks are high, particularly for the investor. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which regulates the crowd funding sector, suggests on its website

achieved. Whilst investors will ordinarily have their investment returned if the minimum fundraising is not achieved, cheques can be left dormant for some time, when arguably they could have been achieving greater yields in a high street savings account.

Finally, investors should note that, depending on the platform and the structure of the crowd funding, an investor may have no right of complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service and may not be able to apply to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Importantly for community energy projects the risks of raising capital through a crowd funding platform are relatively low, unless it fails to raise the minimum investment amount, in which case the costs of using the

Crowd funding uses online platforms to raise investment for a range of projects that all investors should understand what level of due diligence has been undertaken, the level of risk and the value for money offered by the project (after charges, taxes and potential defaults).

By their nature crowd funding projects tend to be relatively small scale and may not always have either the infrastructure or the personnel in place to succeed in achieving the proposed returns. However, as with most community energy projects, if it has access to guaranteed government backed incentives, such as FITs, ROCs or the RHI, this risk can be somewhat offset.

Another risk is presented by the time scale. Even if the investment opportunity is only looking to raise £25,000, it can take many months for this amount to be

40 • September/October 2014

platform and preparing the offering documentation is wasted. However, a community energy group may lose some degree of local community involvement and engagement with a project if crowd funding is utilised so there are potentially threats to the vision and personality of a project.

What are the legal and regulatory considerations?

As crowd funding continues to grow in popularity, platforms are increasingly seeking access to a wider pool of investors, particularly retail investors. This aspiration raises difficult questions of policy, namely whether this sort of investment is in fact suitable for the ‘general public investor’ and how the sector can be adequately

regulated without stifling it.

As a result, the FCA has published a statement which aims to ensure that investors have clearer information about the risks involved and requires platforms to have safety features in place in case they run into financial difficulty. The FCA further confirmed that it will regulate loan-based and equitybased crowd funding with platform operators requiring full FCA authorisation.

Further regulation is expected so that firms have the necessary capital to protect against financial shocks. However, for now, the rather inconsistent state of play is such that equity funding will be covered by the FSCS, but investors who lend through these platforms will not have recourse to the FSCS should it run into trouble.

The ideological challenge for community energy groups presented by crowd funding may be insurmountable for some. However, this may change in time with geographical restrictions or preferences on investment currently under consideration.

As crowd funding is a relatively new phenomenon, many of the legal and regulatory wrinkles are still to be ironed out. But for now, the advice for all those looking to invest or for community energy projects looking to raise monies through a platform, is take appropriate legal, financial and regulatory advice. And ideally, take it from service providers that have experience of dealing with these matters. l

For more information:

This article was written by Jonathan Richards, commercial solicitor in the Energy, Projects and Commerce team at law firm SGH Martineau.

Visit: www.sghmartineau.com

Bioenergy Insight

torrefaction Bioenergy Heating biomass in a low oxygen creates biocoal — a renewable fuel that bears a striking resemblance to coal

Breaking coal dependence

E

nergy production is one of the most important industries to modern life and coal-fired power is the biggest contender.

Some experts, however, are worried the world’s supply of coal will run out, leaving us incapable of producing enough energy to fuel our economy.

If something should happen to eliminate the ability to use coal, for example running out altogether, being impractical, or become too costly to burn, civilisation as we know it will not be able to survive. One solution is to increase the amount of renewables that are used for energy production before something happens to our largest energy source.

At the present time, about 11% of energy production is from renewables1 and about 40% from coal2. In the realm of renewables, the options include solar, wind, geothermal and biomass.

While the other renewables have their merits, recent technological advancements place biomass at the front of the pack to increase the amount of renewables used to power the world.

The process through which biomass can become a lead player is torrefaction.

Torrefaction is the method where biomass — woody or other — is heated in a low oxygen environment to a point where chemical changes start occurring. At the right temperature, the end product can resemble

Bioenergy Insight

coal to a striking degree. It is so similar to coal that it is speculated to be able to burn alongside coal, or co-fired, in a coal power plant without needing to perform any costly modifications to the plant.

More readily available sources of torrefied wood will soon facilitate testing to prove this.

For this reason, torrefied wood is often referred to as biocoal, because it is coal that has recently been converted from biomass.

The torrefaction process breaks the bonds inherent in woody biomass that make it undesirable for co-firing with coal, such as gumming up the grinders and interior of the boilers, making the plant less efficient and requiring more frequent shutdowns for cleaning and repairs.

Other than saving on shipping costs and being able to co-fire with coal, another important property of torrefied biomass is its hydrophobic nature.

While raw biomass cannot be stored outside for any length of time because it will absorb water and start to compost, torrefied material can be stored outside in wet conditions indefinitely with little worry of decomposing or absorbing water.

Once biocoal can be produced economically, reliably and in sufficient quantity to supplement the coal industry, progress toward increasing the percentage of renewable energy can really start to take root. Economically and mass produced biocoal has

Konza Renewable Fuels’ pilot plant, the first test samples at which were ran in 2010

been the goal of biomass and sustainable energy proponents for decades. Technology has finally caught up with the vision to be able to produce biocoal on a large enough scale that commercial plants can finally plan for its use on the horizon.

Any number of crops or byproducts can be torrefied and turned into biocoal. A biomass end product that has previously been viewed as waste can be torrefied. For example, beetlekilled trees in western parts of the US that are not being used for home interior and furniture applications can be torrefied.

The US in particular has seen a decreased demand for forest products. With more people and companies recycling, paper mills and other plants that use raw forest products have cut back leaving un-harvested woody biomass for the taking.

These forests have already

been earmarked for harvest.

Farmers can also raise biomass specific crops for torrefaction, such as switchgrass, prairie grass, bamboo and eucalyptus.

Some types of biomass will grow where no food crops can, so previously unusable land can now produce.

Konza Renewable Fuels, based in Topeka in the US state of Kansas, has recently sold a torrefaction plant that will be capable of taking woody biomass with energy content (also called gross heating value (GHV) or heat value) of 20GJ per tonne, or 8,660 British thermal units (Btu) per pound, at bone dry conditions, 0% moisture content wet basis (mcwb), to biocoal. The biocoal will have an energy content of approximately 22GJ/t or 9,500 Btu/lb at 0% mcwb using state-of-the-art torrefaction technology.

September/October 2014 • 41

Bioenergy torrefaction

Konza Renewable Fuels’ pilot plant with inlet hopper full of biomass waiting to be tested

This unit will be able to produce 12 tonnes per hour, or 26,500lb/hr of torrefied product. It is a continuous process reactor designed to operate 8,400+ hours annually and capable of producing 100,000 tonnes each year.

There is speculation that the demand for biocoal in Europe will be 50 million tonnes per year or more by 20203.

Konza Renewable Fuels is also developing models that will produce 1, 5 and 24 tonnes per hour. Five hundred of the 12 tonne/hr units would be required to satiate the biocoal demand in Europe alone.

Challenges Some challenges with biocoal that have yet to be overcome include: • Biocoal is an unknown and experimental fuel • It has never been produced in large enough quantity for sufficient testing • The process does not remove ash • The process for densification has not been solidified • The burning of biocoal releases the same amount of greenhouse gases as does coal.

To remedy some of these challenges, this new torrefaction unit will allow larger amounts of biocoal to be tested than ever before.

The more biocoal produced and tested, the closer we can come to knowing how the fuel is going to act and if

it is a viable substitution for coal in power production. The best densification process, whether pelletising or other, can be determined once larger quantities become available for testing. Also, testing for the optimal moisture range for co-firing and densification can be pursued.

Procedure How is biomass torrefied? Heat is applied in a low oxygen environment. The problem is the heat required to spur the desired reactions. For the biomass to heat to the prerequisite 250-280°C, the system as a whole must be much warmer than that to allow heat transfer. Metals can warp, expand and become brittle at higher temperatures.

Add in a corrosive environment from the torrefaction gases and you have a recipe for failing equipment. If these

issues are not taken into account by the designers when selecting metals, the system could prematurely and/or catastrophically fail.

However, the higher temperatures and torrefaction gases provide some great benefits as well. The torrefaction gases can be burned as fuel to minimise the use of purchased fuel, such as natural gas or biomass. In fact, Josh Thompson, coowner of Konza Renewable Fuels and co-creator of Konza Renewable Fuels’ torrefaction technology, says that depending on the type of biomass used and its starting moisture content, the torrefaction gas could supply 80-85% of the energy necessary, making the torrefaction process efficient.

Thompson says: ‘As a general rule the torrefaction process drives off about 10% of the energy in a pound of biomass and about 30% of the mass. This means that it takes about 1.43 pounds of bone dry biomass at 8,600 Btu/ lb to produce 1lb of torrefied biomass at 11,000 Btu/lb.’

According to Konza Renewable Fuels’ latest analysis of its torrefied biomass, the starting raw biomass at 0% mcwb had a GHV of 8,333 Btu/lb, 19.42GJ/t, and the ending torrefied material at 0% mcwb had a GHV of 9,559 Btu/lb, 22.27GJ/t4.

Residence time during the torrefaction process is viewed as important

by many researchers and experimenters. According to one research team, the longer a particle roasts in the torrefaction reactor, the more VOCs are removed and the more the particle resembles coal and the higher the energy content becomes5.

However, the technology Konza Renewable Fuels has developed allows for different sizes of biomass particles to be torrefied during the same process. The larger, heavier particles stay in the reactor longer than the smaller, lighter particles allowing for a uniform end product, regardless their variation entering the reactor. This technology also allows for faster processing times to be able to produce 100,000+ tonnes in one year.

Call to action A viable renewable energy source is within reach. It is now time to support the budding technology and industry. With industry support, clean coal and green, renewable energy can be produced for many generations to come. l For more information:

This article was written by Becky Long of Thompson Dehydrating Co. Visit: www.thompsondryers.com

References

1 ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Independent Statistics & Analysis. US Energy Information Administration, 13 June 2014. Web. 12 Sept. 2014. <www.eia.gov/ tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=527&t=4>.

2 Newton, David E. ‘Coal’. World Energy Crisis: A Reference Handbook.

Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2013.

3 Hein, Treena. ‘Biomass Torrefaction Technologies’. Canadian Biomass.

Canadian Biomass Magazine, JulyAug. 2011. Web. 8 Sept. 2014. <www.canadianbiomassmagazine. ca/content/view/2728/132/>.

4 Twin Ports Testing, Inc. 09 Nov. 2010. Raw data. 1301 N. 3rd St., Superior, WI 54880.

A mock-up of possible routing of gases and product in a commercial Konza Renewable Fuels torrefaction system

42 • September/October 2014

5 Pirraglia, Adrian, Ronalds Gonzalez, Daniel Saloni, Jeff Wright, and Joseph Denig. ‘Fuel Properties and Suitability of Eucalyptus Benthamii and Eucalyptus Macarthurii for Torrefied Wood and Pellets’. BioResources 7.1 (2012): 217-34. BioResources. com. North Carolina State University, Feb. 2012. Web. 8 Sept. 2014.

Bioenergy Insight

torrefaction Bioenergy Torrefied biomass holds a number of advantages over untreated biomass, namely greater energy density and increased calorific value

All fired up

B

iomass is commonly seen as one of the most promising renewable energies, with the real potential to significantly lower CO2 emissions. However, untreated biomass has certain intrinsic limitations.

Torrefaction is a process which produces highgrade solid biofuels from woody biomass or agroresidues. In the torrefaction process, biomass feedstock is heated to 250-300°C in an inert atmosphere (i.e. free of oxygen).

When biomass is heated at such temperatures, the moisture, as well as various low-calorific components contained in the biomass, is driven out. Then, a process known as de-polymerisation takes place and part of the biomass polymeric constituents starts to decompose and break down into polymers of a lesser size.

This transformation of the biomass results in a change of the product characteristics, which become comparable with coal. The end-product is usually referred to as

torrefied biomass, black pellets, or bio-coal.

Torrefaction of biomass results in several advantages over untreated biomass.

The end product is a homogeneous, nonfermenting, high grade biofuel with a greater energy density and calorific value than the original feedstock. The typical fibrous structure of biomass is replaced by a more brittle structure that is easy to grind.

This especially is precondition for a viable replacement for coal in pulverised coal power plants and coal gasifiers.

Other immediate benefits are lower logistics costs, easier storage, better combustion behavior and less CAPEX needed on the end user’s site.

Torrefied pellets or briquettes have a very high energy density due to the high net calorific value (19-24 GJ/tonne ar). This energy density is significantly higher than that of classic wood pellets, which means that from the same amount of input feedstock (and therefore for the same energy content), a smaller volume of torrefied pellets ends up being

Overview of the torrefaction process Overview of the torrefaction process compared to wood pellets compared to wood pellets

Topell’s torrefaction process has been tested with various feedstocks including straw, bagasse and other agricultural residues

transported to the end-user.

In combination with improved combustion properties, torrefied pellets can be seen as the next generation biomass commodity.

The potential application areas for the torrefied biomass include a number of sizeable global markets, including co-firing in coal-fired power plants, decentralised generation of heat and power, and large-scale gasification to produce bio-based chemicals and materials.

Hydrophobic nature / water resistant

Technical demonstration

More homogeneous product

Longer durability

Higher bulk density

Bioenergy Insight

A supplier of clean technology, Topell Energy has developed a torrefaction process which has compelling benefits compared to other existing solid biofuel alternatives available on the global market to date. The technology has been successfully tested

Higher calorific value No biological activity

Source: ECN, data from typical woody biomass with 10% moisture content

Technical demonstration

Immediate benefits torrefiedpellets pellets Immediate benefits of torrefied

The latent demand for such an enabling technology at a range of potential customers is therefore considerable.

Excellent grindability

Source: Topell Energy

September/October 2014 • 43

Bioenergy torrefaction with an array of feedstocks, including straw, coconut shells, sugarcane bagasse and other agricultural residues.

The company has built the largest biomass torrefaction plant in the world, which has allowed it to prove and refine its technology on a large industrial scale, and has now started its worldwide commercial roll-out.

Topell’s technical demonstration plant in Duiven, the Netherlands was built on commercial scale to demonstrate the technical feasibility of a plant capacity ranging from 60,000 to 140,000 tonnes per annum. The plant was built as a greenfield project and fully integrates the processes of pre-drying, torrefaction, densification (pelleting) and combustion of the volatiles released (also referred to as torgas combustion).

A multi-staged reactor system is used to torrefy pre-dried biomass. In the development phase, the focus has primarily been set to deliver the heat to the biomass in an effective manner and keeping the retention time in the reactor system as short as possible.

The typical residence time is only a few minutes while the control over the process is optimised thanks to the small hold-up of biomass in the system at any moment in time.

Besides important safety

Topell’s demo plant produces 60,000 tonnes of wood pellets a year

aspects, control over the process means: • Accurate temperature control (±1°C). This is crucial in light of the small temperature operating

exothermic effects and temperature runaway phenomena • A stable combustion of the torgas and the capacity to balance the process

Torrefied biomass can be utilised in a number of industries such as coal power plants, heat and power production, and bio-based chemicals window for torrefaction • The ability to heat the biomass at a precise temperature just below the maximum torrefaction threshold, which yields the best results but beyond which the decomposition of the biomass becomes too fast and the process becomes unstable • A better grip over

Torrefaction of biomass results in several advantages over untreated biomass

44 • September/October 2014

thermally at, or near the autothermal point, which minimises the need for any external or ‘top up’ fuel for the process.

Co-firing applications The biocoal from the demonstration plant has been applied in various combustion and gasification tests. The

anticipated benefits of torrefied material relating to grindability, combustibility and logistics were all confirmed during co-firing trials in Dutch power stations.

The trials included a large co-firng test of 2,500 tonnes of torrefied pellets, where up to 25% of coal was replaced with biocoal at one coal mill.

All expectations concerning the key parameters were corroborated. Moreover, de-rating effects arising at the coal plant when coal is replaced by untreated biomasses, such as wood (chips and pellets), were shown to have been significantly mitigated.

Additionally, a number of tests in smaller-scale facilities have shown that the torrefied material produced with Topell’s technology resulted in noteworthy improvements in combustion efficiency and in a more stable operation of the relevant combustion units.

In conclusion, the reduced costs of logistics and significantly higher revenues resulting from using torrefied biomass at the final conversion step to power more than outweigh the additional capital investment required to implement Topell’s torrefaction process in the biomass value chain. l

For more information:

Visit: www.topellenergy.com

Bioenergy Insight

wood pellets Bioenergy A comparison between torrefied, steam exploded and traditional white wood pellets1

Black pellets: costs and benefits

T

Energy

his article will cost per unit of energy.

(GJ/tonne) Vessel Tonnes on 3 compare the The analysis will assume board GJ on board volume (m3) GJ/m White benefits in $/ that the buyer is willing to 17.0 White 11.05 60,000 39,000 663,000 Whi Torrefied GJ (gigajoule) of pay the same price per GJ 22.0 Torrefied 14.85 60,000 40,500 891,000 Torr shipping white and Steam for anyExploded of the three types of19.5 Steam Exploded 14.63 60,000 45,000 877,500 Stea black pellets with the costs pellets. Using an assumed Table 3: Tonnes and GJ of pellets when loaded onto a ship of production. If the increase price of $160 per tonne FOB in the cost of production per steam explodedFines pellets for white pellets2 and using Shipping Bulk per tonne. The higher energy shipping cost the energy densities in Table GJ is less than the increase requires higher costs per density of the torrefied Density cost per Loss Cost 3 1, the value of a GJ FOB Energy is in the price per GJ, then the tonne. The higher energy pellets yields a lower cost per tonne (kg/m ) Tonnes on pera GJ (GJ/tonne) Vessel Tonnes on GJ require $9.41. The bulk densities of technology is economically densities higher per GJ for shipping.

Table 3 board board GJ on board volume (m3) GJ/m White 17.0 White 650 White $19.62 $ 1.154 $0.013 the three types of pellets viable. White pellets will input into 4 also accounts for White 11.05losses60,000 39,000 of pellet 663,000 feedstock White White 39,000 Torrefied 22.0 Torrefied 40,500 891,000 Torrefied 40,500 are shown in Table 2. be used as the benchmark end of $0.017 the process. due to breakage 14.85 (fines). 60,000 Torrefied 675 Torrefied $18.89 the $ front 0.859 Torrefied Steam Exploded 19.5 Steam Exploded Energy Steam Exploded 14.63 60,000 45,000 877,500 45,000 to calculate the net benefit Both processes also use This analysis assumes a 1.5% $17.00 $ 0.872 $0.006 Steam Explo Steam Exploded Energy 750 Steam Exploded (GJ/tonne) or penalty of producing energy converting Energy G (GJ/tonne) White 17.0 pellets.

Vessel Tonnes on torrefied or steam exploded to ‘black’ Shipping Fines Bulk (GJ/tonne) 3 White 3 Vessel Tonnes boardon shipping cost GJ on board volume (m ) GJ/m 3 3 Torrefied 22.0 Density pellets verses white pellets.

The torrefaction Value Steam of White 17.0 cost Loss boardCost GJ on board Per tonne of pellets – feedstock and fuel at 50% volume (m ) per Torrefied GJ/m White 17.0 per tonne at 5% 11.05 60,000 39,000 663,000 Torrefied White Net value of 3 White Delivered Exploded (kg/m and moisture content 19.5 requires Steam Exploded per39,000 GJ GJExploded 11.05pelletsSteam 60,000 663,000 White First, the value of a process Torrefied 22.0 ) White Pellets Torrefied over 14.85 60,000 40,500 891,000 Torrefied Torrefied pellets22.0 at Margin Dryer consumption (odt) $0.013 0.127 14.85fuel 60,000 40,500 heat, 891,000 Torrefied 0.111 White 1.154 shipload of white, torrefied while the Steam White Exploded 19.5650Torrefied Steam Exploded 14.63$19.62 $60,000 45,000 White 877,500 $8.245 Steam Exploded Steam consumption (tonnes) 0.000 1.406 Steam Exploded 19.5 Steam Exploded 14.63$18.89 60,000 45,000 877,500 foreign port675white pellets Steam Exploded Torrefied Torrefied $ 0.859 $0.017 Torrefiedexplosion $8.536 and steam exploded pellets steam Table 1: Energy densities of Additional Wood for steam production or for the Bulk Exploded Steam Exploded $17.00 $ 0.872 $0.006 process Steam $8.534 delivered to a foreign port requires the threeSteam types ofExploded pellet $5,381,400 750 White $0 torrefaction reaction (odt) 0.000 0.000 Density Table 4: Cost per tonne of shipping pellets will be calculated. Then the pressurised steam.

Bulk 3 Wood going into theShipping reactor (odt) Fines 1.266 1.109 Torrefied $7,495,094 $2,113,694 ) Shipping Fines(kg/m Bulk shipping cost Steam tonne of wood pelletscost –to feedstock and fuel atof 50% Density additional costs required Total make acost tonne pellets (odt) 1.392 1.220 shipping Valu per Loss CostThe Torrefied White Steam Exploded $7,449,226 $2,067,826 Per Net value 3of Exploded and pellets at 5% moisture content Density Value cost per a tonne Loss Cost per Wood tonne White 650 White Deliv Green needed toGJ make of pellets 2.784 2.441 (kg/m lossover of finesDryer forfuel both white to manufacture white, manufacturer of the operating 3 ) Margin pellets at per tonne consumption (odt) 0.127 0.111 0.095 per GJ Delive (kg/m ) Pell per 0.000 GJscale675 GJcommercial Torrefied Torrefied Steam consumption (tonnes) 1.406 0.000 foreign port pellets Pelle and torrefied pellets and a torrefied and steam exploded torrefaction White 650 white White $19.62 $ 1.154 $0.013 Additional Wood for steam production or for the White $8.

White 650 Energy White $19.62 $ 1.154 $0.013 Steam Exploded Steam Exploded 750 White $5,381,400 $0 for 0.5% loss steamreaction exploded pellets will be calculated. system —$0.017 used the Whitebasis torrefaction (odt) 0.000 as0.000 0.000 Torrefied 675 Torrefied $18.89 $ 0.859 White $8.2 Torrefied $8.

Wood going into the reactor (odt) 1.266 1.109 0.000 To Torrefied 675 Torrefied $7,495,094 $2,113,694 Torrefied $18.89 $ 0.859 $0.017 (GJ/tonne) pellets before delivery Subtracting the costs per in this analysis — uses no Torrefied Vessel to the Tonnes on Torrefied$8.5 Steam Exploded $ (odt) 0.872 $0.006 Steam1.045 Exploded $8. a tonne of pellets 1.392 1.220 SteamSteam Exploded 750 Steam 3 Total wood to make3$17.00 Exploded $7,449,226 $2,067,826 board GJ on board volume (m ) Exploded $17.00 $ 0.872 $0.006 GJ/m Steam Exploded $8.5 Steam Exploded 750 Steam Explo carrier at the foreign GJ from the valueWhite per GJ Green Wood needed to make a tonne of pellets 2.784 2.441 2.090 Per t 17.0 Net value of and p White 39,000 663,000 White port. As11.05 would be 60,000 will provide the final metric Table 2: Bulk densities pellets at Torrefied 22.0 Torrefied Margin over Dryer f 14.85the 40,500 891,000 Steam Pervalue tonne60,000 of pellets – feedstock and fuel at 50% Torrefied expected, which will determine if Torrefied White Steam Steam Net value of Per ofat pellets – feedstock and fuel at 50% foreign port white pelletsWhite Exploded andtonne pellets 5% moisture content Torrefied Steam Exploded The assumed 19.5 14.63 and 45,000 877,500 NetSteam value of Exploded Steam Exploded at 5% moisture content volume ofExploded of over delivering a pellets60,000 there is a valid economic Additio pellets at Margin Dryer fuel consumption (odt) 0.127 0.111 0.095 White $5,381,400 pellets at Margin over 3 shipload Dryer fuel consumption (odt) 0.127 0.111 $00.095 torrefa the ship loaded with pellets 60,000m argument for torrefaction Steam consumption (tonnes) 0.000 1.406 0.000 foreign port white pellets Torrefied $7,495,094 $2,113,694 Steam consumption (tonnes) 0.000 1.406 0.000 Wood foreign port whiteof pellets Additional production or for the three higher bulk and Wood for steamproduction is 60,000m3. For all and steam explosion.

Total w Additional Wood for steam or for the Steam Exploded $7,449,226 $2,067,826 White $5,381,400 $0 torrefaction reaction (odt) 0.000 0.000 0.000 Whiteof pellets $0 density types ship will energy fuel reaction Shipping Fines Bulk the$5,381,400 torrefaction (odt) 0.000 0.000 0.000 Green Wood going into the reactor (odt) 1.266 1.109 0.000 W Torrefied $7,495,094 $2,113,694 Table 5: Pellet delivery costs shipping cost Woodfor going into the reactor (odt) 1.266 1.109 0.000 Torrefied $7,495,094 $2,113,694 ‘cube out’ (fill up completely) is higher than white Higher bulk and energy density Density Total wood to make a tonne of pellets (odt) 1.392 1.220 1.045 Value oT cost per Loss Cost Steam Exploded $7,449,226 $2,067,826 Total wood to make a tonne of pellets (odt) 1.392 1.220 1.045 Steam Exploded $7,449,226 $2,067,826 Green much Wood needed to make a tonne of pellets 2.784 2.441 2.090 before reaching pellets.per By tonne how put more GJ on a ship DelivereS (kg/m3)a maximum Green Wood neededGJ to make a tonne of pellets 2.784 2.441 2.090 per GJ Pellets weight limit. Table 3 shows can be seen in Table 5. additional wood (or other

-

White White $19.62cost$ 1.154 fuel) $0.013 the tonnes and650 GJ that would Does the higher for reactor heat. Once Both torrefaction and steam White 3 Torrefied $18.89the$ 0.859 up$0.017 ship. be loaded on a675 60,000m to produce negate to operating temperatures, explosion result inTorrefied higher Torrefied The steam exploded pelletsExploded shipping advantage?

VOCs in the reactor offgas energy density andSteam higher Exploded $17.00 $ 0.872 the $0.006 Steam Exploded 750 Steam make the heaviest load and Producing torrefied and are sufficient to operate the bulk density pellets. In both the torrefied pellets pack the processes, a comparison of Steam Per tonne of pellets – feedstock and fuel at 50% most energy on the ship. the incoming wood and final Torrefied Exploded White Net value of and pellets at 5% moisture content Assuming a shipping cost of densified product shows that pellets at Margin over Dryer fuel consumption (odt) 0.127 0.111 0.095 $17/tonne3 for a 45,000-tonne the loss of mass is greater Steam consumption (tonnes) 0.000 1.406 0.000 foreign port white pellets load of steam exploded than the loss of energy. That Additional Wood for steam production or for the pellets, the estimated costs$0 change in bulk andWhite energy $5,381,400 torrefaction reaction (odt) 0.000 0.000 0.000 per tonne for shipping pellets densities is advantageous to Wood going into the reactor (odt) 1.266 1.109 0.000 Torrefied $7,495,094 $2,113,694 Total wood to make a tonne of pellets (odt) 1.392 1.220 1.045 are shown in Table 4.

The logistics. More tonnes perExploded unit Steam $7,449,226 $2,067,826 Green Wood needed to make a tonne of pellets 2.784 2.441 2.090 lower bulk density pellets of volume and more energy Table 6: Wood demands incur higher shipping costs per tonne lower the delivery Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 45

$8.245 $8.536 $8.534

Wh Tor Ste

Bioenergy wood pellets reactor without additional fuel. No data on the ability of steam explosion by-products to fuel the steam generation process is available and so it is assumed here that no additional fuel is needed.

Table 64 shows the wood demands at an assumed moisture content of 50% for green wood and hog fuel, and 5% for the finished pellets.

Oven dry tonne (ODT) is the weight of the wood with 0% moisture content.

The higher wood input needed for the higher bulk and energy density pellets requires more wood for pre-

value of the product are shown in Table 8. The net benefit leaves room for other costs and profits. The net benefit over white pellets is shown in Table 9. Not included here are other potentially valued characteristics such as hydrophobicity and improved grindablity.

than for torrefied pellets. If total CAPEX per tonne per year of installed capacity for the steam explosion plant is greater than $290 then, given the assumptions in this model, the net benefit is lower than for white pellets.

The advantage is sensitive to changes in bulk and/ or energy density. These Sensitivity analyses densities quickly move the metrics out of the The analysis assumes the positive zone and into projects are purchasing the negative red zone. clean white chips for $36/ A significant part of the $/ tonne (green) for pellets GJ advantage of torrefaction and low grade hog fuel for or steam explosion is the dryer and, if needed, determined by shipping costs.

The benefit comes from being able to put more energy on Tonnes on Wood Cost GJ on Wood Cost a ship for a given board board per GJ d shipload. Given the 0 White 39,000 $2,815,800 663,000 $4.247 additional costs for 0 Torrefied 40,500 $3,895,594 891,000 $4.372 production versus 0 white pellets, the Steam Exploded 45,000 $3,794,063 877,500 $4.324 distance between the Table 7: Cost of wood to fill a ship positive and negative red zones is not drying than white pellets. for torrefaction and steam very far. The processes Table 7 shows the wood generation at $20/tonne need to efficiently deliver Value of Net costs to fill a 60,000m3 ship (green). The advantage of Benefit pellets that contain high 3 Delivered Total Cost based on feedstock at $36/ torrefied and steam exploded per GJ Per GJ densities of energy per m .

Pellets If all of the steam needed green tonne. Dryer fuel, and pellets is they survive higher for if needed, reactor and steam feedstock and fuel costs White $8.245 $6.897 $1.347 the steam explosion generator fuel, are at $20/ better than white pellets (in orrefied $8.536 $6.736 $1.800 process were to be made from combusting hog fuel, it green tonne. It also shows terms of the net benefit in team Exploded on $6.990 Wood is Cost estimated that it will take the cost of wood$8.534 per GJ. Tonnes$/GJ).

If wood costsGJ goon up $1.544 Wood Cost board board per GJ 0.141 ODT per tonne GJ on boardAdditional about must also for black pellets, they go up Tonnes on costs GJ on Wood Cost Wood Cost board into board 39,000 perwhite GJ$2,815,800 of pellets produced. That be taken consideration, for pellets as 663,000 well.

663,000 White $4.247 would put the steam explosion such as operations and Steam The advantages of891,000 black 891,000 39,000 $2,815,800 663,000 $4.247 Torrefied 40,500 $3,895,594 $4.372 White Exploded process in the red zone. In the maintenance (O&M) costs pellets are somewhat robust ed 877,500 40,500 $3,895,594 $4.372$3,794,063 877,500 Steam Exploded891,000 45,000 $4.324 Net Benefit pulp making process ‘black and increase in capital costs. to increases in the CAPEX 0.111 0.095 Exploded 45,000 $3,794,063 877,500 $4.324 over White liqueur’ is produced from a The total of these extra costs needed to build a black 1.406 0.000 similar process and that bycompared to the delivered pelletPellets manufacturing per GJ plant. product is commonly s 0.000 0.000 White $0.000 used in recovery Value of Net ost Value 1.109of 0.000 Net boilers. We would Torrefied $0.453 Benefit Benefit Delivered Total Cost Delivered Total Cost 1.220 1.045 J Pellets per GJ Pellets Per GJ expect that a similar per GJ Per GJ Steam Exploded $0.196 2.441 2.090 capture of that energy 013 $8.245 $6.897 $8.245 $1.347 White $6.897 $1.347 will be employed in $6.736 $1.800 017 $8.536 Torrefied $8.536 $6.736 $1.800 steam explosion pellet d $8.534 $6.990 $1.544 006 production facilities.

Steam Exploded $8.534 $6.990 $1.544

hite

-

-

=

Table 8: Additional costs

=

-

=

The analysis in the previous Net Benefit White section uses $255 per tonne over White Net Benefit per year of installed capacity 0.127 0.111 0.095 Pellets per GJ (versus $210over for aWhite white pellet 0.000 1.406 0.000 White $0.000 per GJ plant). ThePellets lower energy Torrefied $0.453 density of the steam exploded 0.000 0.000 0.000 White $0.000 1.266Steam Exploded 1.109 0.000 $0.196 pellets means that the capital Torrefied $0.453 Table 9: Net benefit over white pellets cost burden per GJ is higher 1.392 1.220 1.045

Steam Torrefied Exploded .095

.000

.000 .000 .045 .090

2.784

2.441

2.090

Steam Exploded

46 • September/October 2014

$0.196

Conclusion If the producer can deliver energy densities per m3 as high as or higher than shown in this model, the net benefit over white pellets can transfer to both the buyer and the producer. The buyer

could pay a lower price per GJ and the seller can earn a higher profit per GJ as long as those adjustments do not take the net benefit below the project’s hurdle rate for returns.

This analysis does not quantify several other potential benefits such as hydrophobicity and improved grindablity. The elimination or reduction of the need for dry storage can make the conversion costs for a coal plant lower and improve the total cost of generation with pellet fuel. Water resistance can also improve ship loading and unloading times since white pellet loading operations have to be curtailed when it is raining or snowing. The improved grinding characteristics can lower operating costs for the power plant.

This analysis also does not look at the mill-to-port and port storage and loading costs (pre-FOB logistics costs). All of those costs, in terms of $/GJ, will be sensitive to the energy density per tonne since they are typically based on tonnes moved, stored and loaded. It is possible that specific deals can be made based on m3 rather than tonnes. Since each project is quite different, we will save that modelling for specific projects.

Perhaps the larger challenge is that, as yet, the market for torrefied and steam exploded pellets barely exists. That is partially due to the persistent failure of the technology developers over a number of years to get the mass and energy balances of the production processes in line with an economic model that works. Expectations for the development of profitable processes have been repeatedly delayed. Utility buyers are deservedly skeptical.

Furthermore, utility buyers are familiar with white pellets. They know that they work in their boilers and they know that they can

Bioenergy Insight

FutureMetrics LLC

$18.00 $2.05 $1.82 $1.59 $1.36 $1.13 $0.90 $0.67 $0.44 $0.21 -$0.02 -$0.25 -$0.48 -$0.71

$20.00 $2.03 $1.80 $1.57 $1.34 $1.11 $0.88 $0.65 $0.42 $0.19 -$0.04 -$0.27 -$0.50 -$0.73

Pellet Feedstock Cost per Tonne (green)

$1.80 $34.00 $36.00 $38.00 $40.00 $42.00 $44.00 $46.00 $48.00 $50.00 $52.00 $54.00 $56.00 $58.00

$1.54 $34.00 $36.00 $38.00 $40.00 $42.00 $44.00 $46.00 $48.00 $50.00 $52.00 $54.00 $56.00 $58.00

$18.00 $1.79 $1.57 $1.34 $1.11 $0.88 $0.66 $0.43 $0.20 -$0.03 -$0.25 -$0.48 -$0.71 -$0.94

$20.00 $1.77 $1.54 $1.32 $1.09 $0.86 $0.63 $0.41 $0.18 -$0.05 -$0.28 -$0.50 -$0.73 -$0.96

Pellet Feedstock Cost per Tonne (green)

Pellet Feedstock Cost per Tonne (green)

wood pellets Bioenergy

$1.35 $34.00 $36.00 $38.00 $40.00 $42.00 $44.00 $46.00 $48.00 $50.00 $52.00 $54.00 $56.00 $58.00

$18.00 $1.59 $1.37 $1.15 $0.92 $0.70 $0.48 $0.25 $0.03 -$0.19 -$0.42 -$0.64 -$0.87 -$1.09

$20.00 $1.57 $1.35 $1.12 $0.90 $0.68 $0.45 $0.23 $0.01 -$0.22 -$0.44 -$0.66 -$0.89 -$1.11

Torrefied Pellets - Net Benefit in $/GJ - Sensitivity to Wood Costs Hog Fuel Cost per Tonne (green) $22.00 $24.00 $26.00 $28.00 $30.00 $32.00 $34.00 $2.01 $1.98 $1.96 $1.94 $1.92 $1.89 $1.87 $1.78 $1.75 $1.73 $1.71 $1.68 $1.66 $1.64 $1.55 $1.52 $1.50 $1.48 $1.45 $1.43 $1.41 $1.32 $1.29 $1.27 $1.25 $1.22 $1.20 $1.18 $1.09 $1.06 $1.04 $1.02 $0.99 $0.97 $0.95 $0.86 $0.83 $0.81 $0.79 $0.76 $0.74 $0.72 $0.63 $0.60 $0.58 $0.56 $0.53 $0.51 $0.49 $0.40 $0.37 $0.35 $0.33 $0.30 $0.28 $0.26 $0.17 $0.14 $0.12 $0.10 $0.07 $0.05 $0.03 -$0.06 -$0.09 -$0.11 -$0.13 -$0.16 -$0.18 -$0.20 -$0.29 -$0.32 -$0.34 -$0.36 -$0.39 -$0.41 -$0.43 -$0.52 -$0.55 -$0.57 -$0.59 -$0.62 -$0.64 -$0.66 -$0.75 -$0.78 -$0.80 -$0.82 -$0.85 -$0.87 -$0.89 Steam Exploded Pellets - Net Benefit in $/GJ- Sensitivity to Wood Costs Hog Fuel Cost per Tonne (green) $22.00 $24.00 $26.00 $28.00 $30.00 $32.00 $34.00 $1.75 $1.73 $1.70 $1.68 $1.66 $1.63 $1.61 $1.52 $1.50 $1.48 $1.45 $1.43 $1.41 $1.38 $1.29 $1.27 $1.25 $1.22 $1.20 $1.18 $1.16 $1.07 $1.04 $1.02 $1.00 $0.97 $0.95 $0.93 $0.84 $0.82 $0.79 $0.77 $0.75 $0.72 $0.70 $0.61 $0.59 $0.56 $0.54 $0.52 $0.50 $0.47 $0.38 $0.36 $0.34 $0.31 $0.29 $0.27 $0.25 $0.16 $0.13 $0.11 $0.09 $0.06 $0.04 $0.02 -$0.07 -$0.09 -$0.12 -$0.14 -$0.16 -$0.19 -$0.21 -$0.30 -$0.32 -$0.35 -$0.37 -$0.39 -$0.41 -$0.44 -$0.53 -$0.55 -$0.57 -$0.60 -$0.62 -$0.64 -$0.66 -$0.75 -$0.78 -$0.80 -$0.82 -$0.85 -$0.87 -$0.89 -$0.98 -$1.01 -$1.03 -$1.05 -$1.07 -$1.10 -$1.12 White Pellets - Net Benefit in $/GJ- Sensitivity to Wood Costs Hog Fuel Cost per Tonne (green) $22.00 $24.00 $26.00 $28.00 $30.00 $32.00 $34.00 $1.55 $1.53 $1.50 $1.48 $1.46 $1.44 $1.41 $1.33 $1.30 $1.28 $1.26 $1.24 $1.21 $1.19 $1.10 $1.08 $1.06 $1.03 $1.01 $0.99 $0.97 $0.88 $0.86 $0.83 $0.81 $0.79 $0.77 $0.74 $0.65 $0.63 $0.61 $0.59 $0.57 $0.54 $0.52 $0.43 $0.41 $0.39 $0.36 $0.34 $0.32 $0.30 $0.21 $0.19 $0.16 $0.14 $0.12 $0.10 $0.07 -$0.02 -$0.04 -$0.06 -$0.08 -$0.11 -$0.13 -$0.15 -$0.24 -$0.26 -$0.28 -$0.31 -$0.33 -$0.35 -$0.37 -$0.46 -$0.49 -$0.51 -$0.53 -$0.55 -$0.57 -$0.60 -$0.69 -$0.71 -$0.73 -$0.75 -$0.78 -$0.80 -$0.82 -$0.91 -$0.93 -$0.95 -$0.98 -$1.00 -$1.02 -$1.04 -$1.13 -$1.16 -$1.18 -$1.20 -$1.22 -$1.25 -$1.27

$36.00 $1.85 $1.62 $1.39 $1.16 $0.93 $0.70 $0.47 $0.24 $0.01 -$0.22 -$0.46 -$0.69 -$0.92

$38.00 $1.82 $1.59 $1.36 $1.13 $0.90 $0.67 $0.44 $0.21 -$0.02 -$0.25 -$0.48 -$0.71 -$0.94

$40.00 $1.80 $1.57 $1.34 $1.11 $0.88 $0.65 $0.42 $0.19 -$0.04 -$0.27 -$0.50 -$0.73 -$0.96

$42.00 $1.78 $1.55 $1.32 $1.09 $0.86 $0.63 $0.40 $0.17 -$0.06 -$0.29 -$0.52 -$0.75 -$0.98

$36.00 $1.59 $1.36 $1.13 $0.91 $0.68 $0.45 $0.22 $0.00 -$0.23 -$0.46 -$0.69 -$0.91 -$1.14

$38.00 $1.57 $1.34 $1.11 $0.88 $0.66 $0.43 $0.20 -$0.03 -$0.25 -$0.48 -$0.71 -$0.94 -$1.16

$40.00 $1.54 $1.32 $1.09 $0.86 $0.63 $0.41 $0.18 -$0.05 -$0.28 -$0.50 -$0.73 -$0.96 -$1.19

$42.00 $1.52 $1.29 $1.07 $0.84 $0.61 $0.38 $0.16 -$0.07 -$0.30 -$0.53 -$0.75 -$0.98 -$1.21

$36.00 $1.39 $1.17 $0.95 $0.72 $0.50 $0.27 $0.05 -$0.17 -$0.40 -$0.62 -$0.84 -$1.07 -$1.29

$38.00 $1.37 $1.15 $0.92 $0.70 $0.48 $0.25 $0.03 -$0.19 -$0.42 -$0.64 -$0.87 -$1.09 -$1.31

$40.00 $1.35 $1.12 $0.90 $0.68 $0.45 $0.23 $0.01 -$0.22 -$0.44 -$0.66 -$0.89 -$1.11 -$1.33

$42.00 $1.33 $1.10 $0.88 $0.65 $0.43 $0.21 -$0.02 -$0.24 -$0.46 -$0.69 -$0.91 -$1.13 -$1.36

independently verified the ‘black’

be produced consistently a strong presence in the that is used no matter what pellet data used in this analysis. and reliably. Finally, there wood pellet sector. The other colour the pellets are. l 2 Based on Argus Biomass are multiple producers of challenges will take time, Markets report, July 23, 2014, For more information: bid spot price, southeast US. white pellets with excess patience and persistence.

This article was written by Dr William 3 Based on Argus Biomass Markets capacity so if one plant But based on the analysis Strauss, president of FutureMetrics. report, July 23, 2014, to ARA To download the full whitepaper, has an interruption, the presented here, the normal (Amsterdam, visit: www.futuremetrics.info FutureMetrics – Globally Respected Consultants in the Wood Pellet Sector - pg. 8 Rotterdam, Antwerp) demands for fuel can still be utility grade pellet sometime from Savannah, GA for a 45,000 tonne shipment on a vessel. fulfilled and the generators in the not too distant future References: 4 The values in the table are can keep spinning. may not be a white pellet. based assumptions on wood energy 1 Data used in this analysis is from Based on this analysis, it If the $/GJ cost of the low content and process efficiency that conference presentations and would appear that the mass carbon sustainably produced may vary by location and process. non-confidential documentation The bottom line values will be and energy balance challenge fuel delivered to the power by major equipment suppliers in different for different locations and the pellet sector and from data has been met by some major plant can lower the cost of technologies. The values are within on white pellets gathered by providers who already have generation, it will be the fuel a reasonable margin of error.

FutureMetrics. FutureMetrics has not

Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 47

Bioenergy moisture control An accurate water content measurement provides improved wood material moisture control

Take a load off

B

iofuel has become an important source of energy in many countries.

At the same time, there is a growing interest in monitoring the purchased amount of energy at power plants. This is because woodbased biofuel moisture levels above 65% are not economically useful since energy is wasted on water evaporation.

A higher moisture content also causes problems for boiler operation. Suppliers that deliver higher moisture content cause an increase in costs due to the higher load weights and annual purchased amounts are usually huge.

Therefore, better accuracy in the moisture of delivered lots is key to substantial savings.

One way to obtain better accuracy from the supply chain is to take a representative sample from each delivered lot — from the truck, for example. The moisture of wood varies significantly within a single load, which makes for challenging sampling.

Figure 1 presents the test results from one truckload of biomass (10l) with the total sample being measured as 12 individual measurements (0.8l per each sample). The

The MR Moisture Analyzer

average moisture from the total sample was 44.3%. The figure shows a large moisture deviation within the sample, from 36% to 55%. This means that there is a need for better sample handling or measuring more single measurements from a bigger sample.

Taking as large a sample as possible and handling that properly is a challenging task, which is usually performed by

Forest residual bigger sample measured as smaller samples 55

53

51

49

Moisture %

47

45

Samples

Average 44,3 %

avg of 12 samples Linear (avg of 12 samples)

43

41

39

37

35 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Figure 1: Test results from one biofuel truckload (10l) with the total sample being measured as 12 individual measurements (0.8l per each sample)

48 • September/October 2014

operators or truck drivers.

There are systems on the market which automatically take samples. Improving the whole process from sample taking to moisture content management requires fast and accurate moisture measurements.

The most common and standardised method for moisture measurement has been oven drying based on loss on drying (LOD). The moisture of the sample is calculated based on the mass loss during the drying process.

The method has its own error sources, such as evaporation of volatile organic compounds, incomplete evaporating of all water when the particle size is too big, and human error during sample handling or typing the scale readings.

Oven drying takes time and results can only be received within 16 to 24 hours. This does not support fast quality checking. If the whole chain

— from sample handling to measurement — could be improved using ovens, sufficient oven capacity and measuring resources would be required.

Measuring the moisture content of wood material, such as woodchips, bark and biofuel, has been an extremely challenging task for instrumental methods.

This is further affected by any error that happens during the reference measurement in the oven. These methods measure some parameter, which correlates to the oven drying method. The main challenge has been the inhomogeneous nature of wood as a material, and wood grades that have different properties such as density and colour. Water in wood exists as bound or free water, which makes measuring challenging. Many methods require a calibration between measured wood grades or different biofuel types due to wood property differences.

Solution Metso Automation has developed an accurate moisture measurement, Metso MR Moisture Analyzer, which measures the true water content of the sample.

The device utilises the magnetic resonance phenomenon, which was discovered during the 1950s.

The technology has mainly been used by scientists and chemists in spectroscopy, for example, to determine chemical compounds. The method is well known for most people from hospitals where an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) device is used to measure a three-dimensional figure of the human body. The method is capable of measuring

Bioenergy Insight

moisture control Bioenergy Test with dried saw dust, water addition 5-500 g

MR Moisture vs Lab oven drying % with different wood grade samples 100

80

90

70 Bamboo

80

Broad-leaved hard wood

60

Burl 70

China Fir

Chips 60

Dry Lamination Eucalyptus Eucalyptus dry

40

Acacia

Imported pine 30

Miscellanous bark Miscellanous tree Pine

20

Moisture %

MR Moisture %

50

50

MR moisture measured Calculated moisture

40

30

Pine (dry & wet)

Sideboard

20

Cedar

10

Linear (Series17) 0 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Lab oven drying %

10

0 saw dust_5 saw dust_10 saw dust_20 saw dust_35 saw dust_55 saw dust_75

saw dust_115

saw dust_160

saw dust_300

Figure 2: MR Moisture vs. lab oven moisture with different wood material

Figure 3: The device results were compared with calculated ones

the true water content by analysing the amount of hydrogen atoms from samples of water molecules.

The main benefits are speed and accuracy. Furthermore, the actual calibration method is easy because only water is used. Since the device measures water, the calibration of the device is carried out using water. The device is therefore not dependent

amounts to the dried saw dust.

Moisture from the samples was calculated, and the samples were measured with the MR Moisture Analyzer. The device results were compared with calculated values shown in Figure 3. The accuracy of the unit with the sawdust proved to be excellent.

As Metso’s MR analyser performs the tasks of measuring water accurately

on any measured material or particle size. Figure 2 shows the accurate results of Metso’s MR analyser with different kinds of wood species and wood material that correlate extremely well.

The MR’s capability of measuring water has been tested with sawdust. First, the material sample was dried to be bone dry. Water was then added in different

saw dust_500

and quickly, it has the potential to become a real challenger to the traditional oven method for moisture measurement. By improving the whole chain of handling biofuel or woodchips with fast and accurate moisture measurement, power plants and mills are able to achieve substantial savings. l For more information: Visit: www.metso.com

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www.bts-biogas.com

September/October 2014 • 49

Bioenergy biomass handling Multi-cargo machines are helping biomass plant operators meet changing demands of the power generation market

Flexibility is key in a time of transition

I

t is inevitable that biomass will become increasingly important to power generation, not just for short- to medium-term environmental reasons, but also to meet the future demand for sustainable power as the finite fossil fuel reserves are consumed and those remaining become ever more difficult and expensive to extract.

But this is a developing, immature market, with uncertainties in the global ability to meet the anticipated demand, particularly at prices acceptable to regional markets.

Power companies need flexibility to ensure that they are not put at risk by fluctuating availability or unstable pricing, according to Lars-Eric Lundgren, regional sales manager for Siwertell, part of Cargotec, a supplier of dry bulk handling systems.

‘When you need to deliver a mix of fuels, it makes good commercial sense to install an unloader that can handle

all types of biomass, as well as coal, without the need to make any adjustments for the various types and grades of material to be handled.’

There are significant economic benefits associated with handling coal and biomass with the same unloader: • Jetty occupancy in the port is minimised • Annual intake over the jetty is optimised • Less capital investment required.

One example of a company employing such flexible unloading techniques is Dong Energy, Denmark’s leading power company. At its combined heat and power station at Avedøre, a Siwertell screw-type ST 790-M ship unloader has been installed for unloading wood pellets and coal, discharging ships of up to 12,000 dwt at a rated capacity of 800 tonnes per hour.

Key factors in the decision to order the Siwertell unloader were its flexibility,

Siwertell ship unloader at Dong Energy’s CHP plant in Avedøre, Denmark

50 • September/October 2014

efficiency and environmental performance. Since entering service in October 2013, the unloader has been used — as planned — for unloading both coal and wood pellets.

‘In line with the predicted expansion in the biofuel market, we have received a number of further orders for similar unloaders,’ Lundgren notes.

In a potentially uncertain fuel supply situation, it is important that dual fuel power plants have the maximum degree of flexibility possible in their unloading and firing arrangements in order to be able to respond to supply and price fluctuations. This is equally true for plants with plans to begin the transition from coal to biomass.

From the earliest days of production, the Siwertell continuous screw-type unloader was designed to be a fully multi-purpose machine. It can handle biomass materials such as wood pellets, palm kernel

shells, woodchips and olive kernels, as well as a wide range of other cargoes including alumina, cement, coal and grain, all without adjustment.

The totally enclosed, continuous conveyor system extends from cargo pick up in the ship’s hold all the way to the receiving facility ashore. Cargo pick up is optimised by the high degree of maneuverability of the vertical arm system and is done on a layer-by-layer basis, right out to the corners of the hold as well as underneath the hatch coamings.

Minimising risk There are significant risks associated with biomass handling and storage, including fire and dust explosions.

For that reason Siwertell’s mechanical continuous unloaders are equipped with the Sulphur Safety System (4S), designed to detect and take care of any kind of fire or explosion within the unloader conveying system.

‘We have adapted our 4S expertise and transferred it, in whole or in part, over to other projects that involve handling hazardous materials such as wood dust and wood pellets,’ explains Lundgren. ‘Our unloader technology has other inherently safe design elements that automatically deliver additional safety benefits.

Cargo pick up by successive layers from below the cargo surface virtually eliminates the risk of cargo avalanches and the ensuing dust clouds.

Bioenergy Insight

biomass handling Bioenergy The screw technology is noted for its low level of cargo damage, which also helps to minimise dust creation.’

One tonne per second Siwertell has recently announced its new coal unloader with a rated capacity of 3,000 tonnes an hour (almost one tonne per second). While building on tried and tested screw technology, the new unloader has a completely new design of supporting structure.

Although heavier than smaller capacity unloaders, its footprint is very much the same. Initially the unloader was aimed firmly at new coal-fired power plants in the Far East, but it does have other potential applications, including dual fuel and pure biomass operations.

Lundgren says: ‘This new 3,000 tonne per hour machine will be targeted at the coal market but can also be used for the biomass market as

they normally operate in parallel at the moment.

Biomass is a lighter material with low density and a lower calorific value than coal, so greater volumes are needed to produce a given amount of power. Therefore our new high tonnage, high volume conveyor is ideal for this purpose. It is multi-cargo and can therefore also be used for any other material where high capacity is required.’

Comparing the alternatives There are alternative unloading technologies available, but they all have their limitations.

A grab crane, for example, can handle both coal and wood pellets but, unlike the Siwertell machine, is not totally enclosed and this can lead to the creation of excess dust and spillages. Secondly, the discharge rate for a grab crane steadily decreases as the cargo level in the hold falls

and the grab has to travel ever greater distances for each load.

When considering other types of continuous unloaders — both mechanical and pneumatic — these are only multicargo to a certain degree.

As Lundgren explains: ‘Generally speaking, they can only handle materials that flow fairly easily. Some cannot handle sensitive products such as wood pellets because of the high level of cargo degradation.

In comparison, degradation to bulk cargo transported

by Siwertell machines with screw conveyors is small.’

When it comes to bigger, continuous, mechanical bucket chain type unloaders, these are heavy and cannot be used to handle dusty, fine products such as wood pellets as they pick up the cargo in the open from the top surface, creating potential for dust creation and cargo wastage. A Siwertell machine picks up the cargo from below the cargo surface

in a controlled manner that minimises dust and reduces the possibility of cargo avalanches.

Some existing power plants planning to convert fully or partially to dual fuel operations will already have perfectly serviceable grab crane unloading facilities for coal in place. However, even with a modern grab crane, there is a lot of spillage and dust creation. Nevertheless, if these disadvantages can be accepted, it could work in parallel with a Siwertell machine in order to maintain overall capacity. A grab crane is also useful for handling general cargo and containers.

New and existing customers moving into biomass recognise the importance of installing the right equipment for their multi-fuel handling needs. l

For more information:

Visit: www.siwertell.com

Bioenergy Insight magazine brings you a new weekly newsletter focusing exclusively on bioenergy.

Updates will cover new pellet, biogas and biopower plants, new types of biomass, production technologies and the latest industry regulations.

Free weekly bioenergy news!

For advertising queries contact: anisha@bioenergy-news.com • +44 (0) 203 551 5752 To submit company news please email keeley@bioenergy-news.com Bioenergy Insight

September/October 2014 • 51

Bioenergy boilers South Carolina biomass plant announces commercial operation for state-of-the-art facility

Operation upgrade complete S onoco, a global provider of industrial products, consumer packaging, protective solutions and packaging services, has successfully constructed, commissioned and is commercially operating a new biomass facility at its Hartsville, South Carolina plant in the US. The biomass boiler is part of a $100 million (€74 million) investment in the Darlington County facility.

Sonoco committed $75 million back in 2011 when it decided to replace two aging coal-fired boilers and install a biomass one at the facility. The new boiler can generate around 16MW of renewable energy primarily from woody biomass sourced from the local logging industry, but can also run on natural gas. The renewable electricity will be used in the manufacturing complex, as well as steam that is used in the papermaking process.

‘A key part of Sonoco’s culture is our commitment to sustainability, including our dedication to improving the environment and our contributions to the future of the communities in which we operate,’ says Sonoco president and CEO Jack Sanders. ‘This boiler is proof of that commitment. We took more than two years to complete final engineering, fabricate the boiler, put together the infrastructure and complete construction of what we believe to be one of the nation’s most state-of-the-art biomass

cogeneration boiler systems.’

The steam generation system was designed, supplied and installed by the McBurney Corporation. The boiler capacity is 300,000 lbs of steam per hour at superheated conditions of 1,325 psig and 515°C. The boiler’s furnace design allows for additional residence time for staged combustion to enhance reduction of the products of combustion, particularly carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter.

Integral to the steam generator is the lower combustion system which incorporates a water-cooled, vibrating grate system manufactured by Detroit Stoker. This vibrating grate system is a modular design for easy installation which, for this project, required three modules for a total active combustion area of 570ft2.

In addition to the grate system, a staged secondary

Grate system and fuel distributors

52 • September/October 2014

Sonoco’s new biomass boiler near completion

air system, specifically designed for this furnace, was provided. Fuel is distributed into the furnace with air swept distributors to maintain a consistent fuel and ash bed

to mitigate fluctuations in boiler performance related to changes in fuel quality.

Compliance with state and federal rules for air emissions were key in pursuing this project. Subsequently, the major pollutants of concern were reviewed and evaluated based on published compliance values.

Of greatest concern were CO, acid gases (HCl), NOx and particulate matter.

Reduction in NOx was required and a post combustion ammonia-based injection system, commonly referred to as a Selective NonCatalytic Reduction (SNCR), was installed. Evaluation of particulate matter emissions revealed that a fabric filter arrangement would ensure compliance.

Bioenergy Insight

boilers Bioenergy CO emissions, often associated with moisture content of biomass fuels and lower furnace combustion, were addressed by high pre-heated combustion air temperatures, conservative boiler and grate thermal release rates to obtain the required temperatures and residence times required to ensure permit compliance values.

An installed continuous emission monitoring system was installed to measure the following pollutants: NOx, CO, CO2, O2, as well as opacity. To ensure emission compliance at all times, it was decided to install full capacity natural gas burners to reliably start up, shut down and be used as a contingency if biomass fuel feed or supply is interrupted. l For more information:

This article was written by Robert Morrow, senior technical manager at Detroit Stoker. Visit: www.detroitstoker.com

Owner/developer Sonoco Engineers/architect McBurney EPC McBurney Steam generator supplier McBurney Steam generator type and design • Two drum, field erected

• 300,000 lbs steam/hr

• 1325 psig and 515°C steam conditions

• Economiser

• Tubular air heater to 260°C

• Mechanical dust collector Combustion system supplier Detroit Stoker Company Combustion system type • Water-cooled, vibrating grate

• Air swept fuel distributors

• Secondary air system APC provider FuelTech, Amerair APC system • SNCR — NOx reduction

• Bag house — PM reduction Emissions permit requirements NOx: 0.20lbs/MMBtu

CO: 160 PPMvd @ 3%O2

PM: 0.0011 Lbs/MMBtu

HCl: 0.0022lbs/MMBtu

VOC: 0.017lbs/MMBtu Turbine generator supplier Re-use existing GE STG Turbine generator Extraction condensing

30MW gross Fuel handling Bruks, Fesco, ProcessBarron Auxiliaries Fans: ProcessBarron

Pumps: ITT Goulds, Flowserve

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www.williamscrusher.com September/October 2014 • 53

Bioenergy fire Micro calorimetry can foresee fire risks in pellet stores

Eliminating fire risks

F

ires in silos or other types of stores are often extremely difficult to extinguish and, in many cases, result in total destruction of the facility.

Spontaneous ignition is a common cause of such fires, caused by self-heating that can occur when wood pellets are stored in large volumes.

To handle these problems, research on how such fires best can be tackled is being conducted. Research is also being carried out to glean a better understanding of the processes that cause and control self-heating in pellets. Improved knowledge of how spontaneous selfheating occurs and grows will help pellet manufacturers to avoid fire risks.

As fossil fuels continue to

be replaced by renewable alternatives, so the use of biofuels is correspondingly increasing. One such biofuel is wood pellets, the use of which on the Swedish market alone has grown by almost 90% over the last decade.

In recent years, several stores across Sweden have been totally destroyed by fires caused by spontaneous ignition of wood pellets. A silo in the municipality of LaxĂĽ has burnt down twice, while as late as December 2013 a large heaped store of 5,000 tonnes of wood pellets in the Ljusne municipality were totally destroyed by spontaneous ignition.

Large stores bring fire risks Spontaneous self-heating occurs in most organic

materials when they are stored in large volumes. The heat can be the result of biological activity resulting from bacteria breaking down organic materials, or the result of oxidation when oxygen reacts with different chemical compounds in the organic material.

Physical processes, too, such as when moisture condenses, release heat.

In the case of wood pellets, the main cause of heat production is oxidation of fatty acids in the wood material. If the produced heat is not conducted away, there is a risk that the process accelerates until spontaneous ignition occurs. This problem is generally more severe as the volume of stored material increases, as the material itself provides insulation

against the surroundings and more easily retains heat.

Spontaneous ignition often arises in the form of a smouldering fire in the depth of a heap of pellets, where there is only limited availability of oxygen. Such smouldering fires can burn for a long time, and are very difficult to detect. The fire is often not detected until it reaches the surface of the heap, coming into contact with oxygen in the air and changing into a burning fire with flames.

Difficult and dangerous to extinguish

Photo credit: Ingvar Hansson, MSB â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency

Self-heating of wood pellets can result in fires in storage facilities

54 â&#x20AC;˘ September/October 2014

Smouldering fires deep inside a silo or a heap of wood pellets are not only difficult to detect but also difficult to extinguish. How can fire fighters reach a fire burning in the middle of a silo? Opening the top of the silo and attempting to extinguish the fire with water is not a good idea, as the pellets absorb the water and swell which, in the worst case, can result in the silo collapsing. The use of water can also result in the formation of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, both of which are explosive gases.

Emptying the silo from the bottom and extinguishing the burning pellets as they emerge from the silo is also associated with risks. The access of air risks providing the smouldering fire with oxygen, increasing its intensity, its spread, and the risk of gas or dust explosions.

For the same reason, it is dangerous to make any openings in the silo at all.

Several of these problems were encountered when dealing with the fire in

Bioenergy Insight

fire Bioenergy Photo credit: The fire and rescue service in Härnösand

A silo fire

Laxå in 2012. The fire was discovered early on a Friday morning when staff had smelt smoke coming from the silo.

An explosion occurred a few hours later, probably as a result of sparks from the fire igniting flammable gases or dust inside the silo, with the result that much of the silo roof was blown off. The fire service then attempted to fight the fire inside the silo by spraying water on its exterior to cool it. However, the damaged roof allowed a considerable quantity of water to reach the pellets inside the silo, with the result that, after a few hours, the entire silo burst as the pellets swelled. The silo was totally destroyed and the fire burnt for several days.

Successful extinguishing So how should fire and rescue services act in order to deal with a silo fire safely? A good example of this is given by a silo fire that occurred in Kristinehamn, Sweden in 2007, when the fire and rescue service worked closely with scientists.

The fire occurred in a 47m high and 8m diameter silo.

Personnel had noted high temperatures in the silo over some days, and were therefore planning to start emptying it. However, before

Bioenergy Insight

they succeeded in doing so, smoke was observed from the silo, in which spontaneous ignition had occurred.

After a first failed attempt to extinguish the blaze, scientists at SP Fire Research who had carried out extinguishing trials of a silo fire the previous year, and had published recommendations on the work, were contacted.

The proposal was that nitrogen should be used as an extinguishant, with the gas being discharged into the bottom of the silo. The gas composition emerging from the top of the silo was also measured in order to monitor the flow and effect of the nitrogen.

Initially, very high concentrations of carbon monoxide were recorded at the top of the silo, generated by the burning fire. However, this concentration fell after a few hours, with the oxygen concentration also falling drastically as a result of the nitrogen injection.

After about a day, it was assessed that the fire was sufficiently under control to allow emptying of the silo to start. For safety reasons, the work was stopped at intervals when temperatures rose or if the oxygen concentration at the top of the silo suddenly increased.

In total, nitrogen was

continuously injected for almost 65 hours before the silo had been emptied and fire-fighting could be concluded. Overall, this was regarded as a very successful case of extinguishing.

volumes at considerably lower temperatures, of the order to 40-60°C.

Tests to prevent fires

A new test method, known as micro calorimetry, makes it possible to measure heat production from just a few pellets at temperatures as low as room temperature. This is because the sensitive instrument can detect temperature changes in the body of a material with an accuracy of up to six decimals.

The main advantage of this test method is that information on heat production is much more similar to that in real conditions. In addition, micro calorimetry is less time consuming than basket heating tests.

In exactly the same way

Micro calorimetry: a good method of predicting self-heating

To prevent spontaneous ignition of wood pellets and other biofuels it is necessary to know how inclined the material is to experience selfheating, i.e. how ‘reactive’ it is. The more reactive it is, the greater attention must be paid to safety aspects during storage. The reactivity of a fuel can be tested in a number of different ways: the most common method of testing is the ‘basket heating test’, of which there are several versions.

The principle of the basket heating test is that a basket made of metal is filled with the material

Self-heating can occur when wood pellets are stored in large volumes. Spontaneous ignition is a common cause of silo fires to be tested, and is then placed in a test chamber that maintains a constant elevated temperature.

The chamber temperature is then increased. If the temperature at the centre of the material in the basket starts to exceed the test chamber temperature, self-heating has occurred.

The tests are repeated at various temperatures in order to find the critical temperature at which spontaneous ignition occurs.

The drawback of basket tests is that they are performed on a small scale at high temperatures between 150-200°C. In reality, however, the problem of spontaneous self-heating occurs in large stored

as with results from basket heating tests, the results from micro calorimetry tests can be used to calculate expected heat production on a large scale in a real silo.

For pellet manufacturers, this means that they can test their products and, depending on the results, take the necessary safety precautions in order to avoid fires. l

For more information: Visit: www.sp.se

September/October 2014 • 55

Bioenergy CHP Homes and businesses in areas of high heat demand could soon be benefitting from low carbon, affordable heat from district heating

The revival of district heating

T

he challenge of how to provide secure, affordable, low carbon heat is quickly becoming central to the energy debate.

As energy bills rise and concerns grow over security of supply, the fact that heating and hot water make up 80% of the average household’s energy bill has put heat into focus for decision makers.

As heat rises up the agenda, one technology that became popular in the 1970s looks set to make a comeback. Could district heating be the new front runner for providing affordable, low carbon heating for the future?

A renewable recovery In the 1970s district heating became a popular choice for high rise buildings and estate builders. Simply put, it is the supply of heating and hot water through a network of insulated pipes.

There are over 1,750 district heating schemes in the UK, connecting 210,000 homes and 1,700 businesses. This is fewer than 2% of all properties in the country and many of these existing schemes were built pre-1990.

District heating can be a low carbon alternative to installing individual boilers into each property within a housing development.

Government modelling says there is a significant opportunity for district heating to replace traditional heating systems in the UK, potentially as much as 20% by 2030 and 40% by 2050.

District heating schemes are technology neutral, meaning they can use heat from

any source that is the right temperature. Much of the heat that is supplied through these networks will be from renewable, low carbon or waste heat sources, making it an excellent option for enabling a building’s energy to decarbonise over time.

Heat sources include dedicated heat generating technologies such as heat pumps and combined heat and power (CHP), waste heat sources such as steam produced at a waste-toenergy plant, an industrial process, or even slightly more unusual sources such as heat produced by servers in data centres or commuters on the underground.

In fact, the opportunity to use waste heat as a resource to provide affordable heat to homes and businesses is staggering. A recent study by the Greater London Authority highlighted that there was sufficient waste heat from industrial and commercial processes to supply 76% of the capital’s total heat demand, 38% of which could be redistributed elsewhere through heat networks. It is the Mayor of London’s intention to generate 25% of the energy required by the capital via local sources by 2025, making the capital a hot spot for community energy innovation.

Biomass district heating is also becoming a popular option as illustrated by flagship sites such as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. The developer’s ambition for the site to host the ‘greenest Games ever’ was a key driver in creating an 18km low carbon district heating network.

The network is connected

56 • September/October 2014

The ‘greenest Games ever’ featured a low carbon district heating network

to a 3.5MW biomass boiler and 100MW of gas-fired combined cooling, heating and power that is projected to save 11,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.

With the inclusion of CHP, excess electricity generated by the plant can be sold to the national grid and, according to the site operator, the additional efficiency provided by the scheme will mean that most consumers would expect to see a saving on their energy bills of between 5-10% compared to traditional heating.

Government support The government has put in place a number of support mechanisms to help bring forward investment in district heating, including funding through the Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU) and the inclusion of district heating as a method for house builders to meet their zero carbon commitments off-site. The £7 million (€8.9 million) put

aside by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for the new unit will help local authorities in the feasibility stages of planning heat networks.

The first two rounds of bidding were a success, with local authorities quickly turning on to the idea of using district heating to help manage their tenants’ energy bills, while also being able to reduce carbon emissions. In fact, over 70 projects from 50 councils are now being supported through the early stages of developing proposals for district heating schemes in their respective towns and cities, which has the potential to benefit thousands of people across the country.

The use of district heating by local authorities, however, is by no means new, with front runners like Islington, Nottingham and Sheffield councils leading the way in tackling fuel poverty through heat networks.

In June this year, the Queen announced: ‘Government

Bioenergy Insight

CHP Bioenergy

Schmack Biogas UK Ltd. · Hortonwood 30 · Telford, Shropshire, TF1 7YP · United Kingdom · info@ schmack - biogas.com

will introduce a bill to bolster investment in infrastructure and reform planning law to improve economic competitiveness…

Legislation will allow for the creation of an allowable solutions scheme to enable all new homes to be built to a zero carbon standard.’

The scheme is designed to bring forward affordable solutions for house builders to meet their Zero Carbon Homes commitments, which requires all homes to be built to a zero carbon standard by 2016. The government has recognised that meeting the standard through energy efficiency measures and low or zero carbon energy entirely onsite may not always be cost-effective, affordable or technically feasible; district heating has been identified as one of a number of solutions that could be used onsite or at other sites to meet

Bioenergy Insight

The district heating network at Stratford is connected to a 3.5MW biomass boiler

the zero carbon standard through activity elsewhere.

With support from government, the industry is beginning to get the ball rolling again and the focus now is to bring forward investment to take advantage of the economies of scale, ensuring a high standard of installation and a high level

of consumer satisfaction.

Over the past 18 months industry and consumer representatives have come together to develop proposals for an Independent Heat Customer Protection Scheme which seeks to provide assurance to homeowners and micro businesses connected to heat networks. The scheme’s

proposals establish a common standard in the quality and level of protection given by heat supply contracts and offers heat network customers an independent process for settling disputes.

The scheme is a vital step towards establishing the supply of heat as the UK’s next major utility and aims to provide a comparable level of protection as is received by electricity and gas customers.

A letter to the scheme’s steering committee received from Greg Barker, then minister of state for DECC, highlighted the importance of the scheme for helping to encourage an increased uptake in the technology. l

For more information:

This article was written by Claire Wych, communications officer at CHPA. Visit: www.chpa.co.uk

From bio-waste to bio-methane – everything from a single source The Viessmann Group biogas competence brands are among the leading suppliers of biogas technologies with the experience that comes from building over 400 plants.

We offer dry and wet anaerobic digestion solutions ranging from 50 kWel to 20 MWgas and provide professional support of all biogas related issues: ■ Plant design, construction and commissioning ■ Key biogas plant components ■ Gas-upgrading technology (Carbotech) for bio-methane production ■ Energy from waste via dry digestion (BIOFerm) or IVC (In-Vessel-Composting) ■ Technical services and biological support More information at www.schmack-biogas.co.uk

September/October 2014 • 57

Bioenergy CHP Biogas-fired combined heat and power units provide many benefits, from financial gains to positive environmental impacts

Creating an asset from biogas

C

ombined heat and power (CHP), or cogeneration, is one of the most effective carbon abatement and cost saving technologies available — whether fuelled by natural gas or renewable fuels, such as biogas. It is a well-proven technology, recognised worldwide as a cleaner alternative to traditional centralised generation.

CHP’s simultaneous generation of electricity and useful heat is typically up to 85% efficient for on-site energy consumption. It is around twice as efficient as conventional power generation, where the generated heat is wasted and further losses occur in transporting the electricity from remote power stations to end users.

Systems powered by natural gas or other fossil fuels will reduce carbon emissions by approximately 20%, while the carbon reduction benefits are significantly better for those systems fuelled by biogas.

The financial benefits of CHP are: • Reduction of the site’s overall energy costs • Rapid payback on investment, which can be between 10-18 months for wastewater CHP projects • Avoidance of climate change levy (CCL) • Claimable Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECAs) • Off-set capital expenditure for replacement boilers • Stabilisation of energy costs over a period of time • Ability to claim Feed-in-

An aerial shot of the wastewater treatment plant in Budapest

Tariffs both on-site and exported electricity • Technology available without any capital outlay.

Environmental advantages include: • Reduction in CO2 and GHG emissions • Conversion of problematic methane gas into a valuable resource • Reduction of NOx and SO2.

Assessing the viability of CHP There are generally three stages to completing the viability for CHP, once the project has been scoped: 1. Initial feasibility study — desk-top calculation The initial feasibility study

58 • September/October 2014

takes into account the biogas production. From the data obtained, the CHP is sized to provide electricity for on-site usage and the remainder can be exported to the grid.

2. On-site review to determine installation options and costs Once the desk-top calculation modelling is complete, it is imperative to understand the site to ensure suitability regarding interfacing the CHP and to establish the connective loads are achievable. Installation costs can vary dramatically from site to site depending on several key factors: • Location of the CHP plant • Gas quality

• Space allocation • Planning implications • Noise issues • Local regulations • Maintenance restrictions • Electrical connections, i.e.

LV, HV, network restrictions • Availability and reliability of biogas over contract period.

Once factors such as these are established, another more detailed feasibilty review is required to ensure suitability and compliance.

3. Investment considerations and finance Payback on anaerobic digestion (AD) and other biogas CHP projects, such as wastewater applications, can be rapid.

Wastewater CHP projects can provide rapid pay back on

Bioenergy Insight

CHP Bioenergy Case study: Distillery realises energy and water savings from AD NORTH BRITISH Distillery has partnered

with Ener-G and HydroThane to develop an AD project that is achieving energy and water savings, while increasing productivity and reducing costs.

The Scottish grain whisky distillery, a joint venture between Diageo and Edrington Group, supplies famous brands such as Famous Grouse and Johnnie Walker Black Label.

The £6 million (€7.6 million) green technology project has reduced the distillery’s CO2 emissions by approximately 9,000 tonnes per year, which equates to the annual carbon saving benefits of a 7,377 acre forest, or removing 3,000 cars from the road.

The project introduced high rate AD to investment — usually within 10 to 18 months. Considering that the lifespan of a typical CHP system is 10-15 years, this can provide a significant cash surplus, as well as improving environmental performance.

Developers can choose to fund capital costs of projects, claiming Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) on electricity generated from CHP engines and exported to the grid, and benefiting from enhanced capital allowances. There is also potential for additional income via the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

Alternatively, some technology providers such as Ener-G, provide funded CHP solutions, requiring no capital outlay from the customer under a guaranteed savings contract.

There are two key investment criteria for on-farm and food waste AD projects, which are: Do the projects have a robust feedstock pipeline for at least the next 10 years?

And is there a credible outlet for the digestate?

CHP equipment Generally, a packaged small-scale CHP plant with electrical capacity ranging from 5kWe to 2.2MWe is supplied as a complete unit

Bioenergy Insight

help the company provide a sustainable solution to a bottleneck in the back-end production process. This comprises a by-products plant producing Distillers Dark Grain pellets for animal feed.

The AD plant, which was completed in two phases, is capable of treating 27,000kg of chemical oxygen demand (COD) per day and produces up to 24,000MWh of renewable energy in the form of biogas.

A high efficiency 500kW Ener-G CHP system and a 1,000kW steam boiler convert the biogas into steam and electrical energy for use on-site. These two energy streams dramatically reduce the distillery’s reliance on the use of fossil fuel-based energy inputs from

the national gas and power grids.

By using HydroThane high rate AD technology to process a third of the post distillation liquor, the company has reduced the load on its existing energy intensive evaporation plant — increasing productivity while reducing energy demand.

David Rae, North British Distillery MD, says: ‘Our sustainability business strategy is to make savings in terms of energy costs while at the same time reducing the environmental impact of our production process. By reducing our carbon footprint we are contributing significantly to the Scotch whisky industry’s global target of sourcing 80% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2050.’

AD facility at North British Distillery

ready for installation. This can be as ‘off the shelf’, standard products or a bespoke package designed

to meet requirements for each specific site. Correct sizing is paramount, requiring the careful sizing

to match the available biogas supply on-site.

• The equipment will include the engine, generator, heat recovery equipment, pipework, valves and controls. The prime mover provides the mechanical power • In packaged CHP units, this is usually reciprocating engine system which will produce between one and two units of heat (usually in the form of hot water rather than steam) for each unit of electricity generated • Heat is recovered from the engine exhaust system and water jacket via heat exchangers, providing a single source of heat • Pre-treatment technology required to clean

Case study: Lye Cross Farm AD project A RECENT anaerobic digestion investment by Ener-G is a project in partnership with organic cheese maker Lye Cross Farm, based in Somerset. This project will create renewable energy from lactose permeate and plant washings.

The business has agreed to a 15-year feedstock contract, giving Ener-G the security to invest in the design,

installation and operation of the complete AD facility.

With over 50 million litres of material to process, digestate was going to be an issue. It was agreed that the plant owner will be responsible for the removal of all digestate. In return Ener-G will install a system that separates the solids from the liquids, enabling the solids to be

land spread and providing a valuable organic fertiliser.

The liquid fraction will be passed from the AD facility to an aeration system, and this treated water will be pumped to Lye Cross Farm’s dairy herd to hydrate its cattle. As such, a closed loop solution has been created, which overcomes the two main barriers associated with developing an AD project.

September/October 2014 • 59

Bioenergy CHP and dry biogas from digestion processes, such as effluent and AD • Siloxane and H2S treatment, and chiller to clean/treat gas prior to the engine, depending on the gas quality and feedstock.

Environment and emissions The size of the CHP scheme and its geographical location determines which pollution control authority regulates its operations and which legislation applies. For installations below 20MWth, the local authority is the regulator and the relevant legislation is the Clean Air Act, however this only applies to boilers fuelled by coal or biomass. As the majority of CHPs are powered by natural gas or biogas, the Clean Air Act may not always need to be considered.

There are currently no UK emission standards for CHP plants less than 20MWe, however there are emission standards within given

localities (such as boroughs of London) which must be adhered to. Additionally, some European countries do have emission standards for smaller CHP technologies and manufacturers may reference the German TA-Luft standards or the Dutch BEMS standards in their equipment specifications.

Biomass and biogas CHP is eligible for Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) support. Any new application for RHI with a biomass boiler (including CHP systems) or a biogas

CHP (such as part of an anaerobic digestion plant or at a wastewater treatment works) must have either an RHI emission certificate or an environmental permit certifying that particulate matter and NOx emissions from the site do not exceed maximum permitted levels.

Biomass boilers and biogas applications that do not have an RHI emission certificate or an environmental permit will not be eligible for the RHI. Before the system can be

connected to the electricity distribution network, the distribution network operator will assess the impact of this connection. It must be satisfied that the design and operating system is safe before it will grant permission to connect the generator to the local electricity supply network. l For more information:

This article was written by Martin Wager, business development manager for CHP and biogas generation specialist Ener-G Combined Power.

Visit: www.energ.co.uk/chp

Case study: Hungarian wastewater scheme ENER-G DESIGNED and built a €2.6 million

CHP wastewater treatment facility at the Budapest wastewater treatment plant in Csepel ­— part of Hungary’s Living Danube programme. The company installed a 4.5MWe biogas cogeneration system, together with three 2.5MW Loos boilers for additional hot water generation using natural gas or biogas. The company also manages the operations and maintenance services.

The renewable energy centre forms part of a biological treatment complex covering

70,000m² on a 29 hectare site at Csepel Island. The plant is targeted to treat an average of 350,000m3 per day of wastewater from most of Buda and part of Pest, serving approximately 1 million people.

The energy centre can supply up to 4.5MWe of renewable electricity to the site which provides more than 50% of the plant’s total electricity consumption. The maximum 8.5MW heat generated by the CHP unit is utilised in the digester process consuming 563m3/hr of biogas per unit.

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