Second BTA biomethanation project in France

Jointly managed by Syctom (l'agence métropolitaine des déchets ménagers Île-de-France) and Sigeif (Service public du gaz, de l'électricité et des énergies locales en Île-de-France), the biomethanation project at the port of Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine department) aims to process up to 50,000 tons of food waste annually generated on Syctom's territory.

Following a call for tenders in 2020, Syctom and Sigeif decided in March 2022 to award the concession for the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the biowaste methanation plant to Paprec (https://www.paprec.com/en).

The biomethane produced from the organic waste will supply Sem Sigeif Mobilités' largest French Bio-GNV fueling station, also located in the port of Gennevilliers. The biogas will help to reduce the need for imported fossil fuels.

The digestate from the methanation will be used as fertilizer and transported away by water for agricultural use.

PAPREC has selected BTA & AR-Val as technology partners for the project.

BTA and AR-VAL are responsible for the design, supply, assembly and commissioning of the major part of the process, starting with the waste reception, storage and feeding, the BTA hydro-mechanical pre-treatment, the wet anaerobic digestion incl. sanitation and heat recovery and dewatering as well as the biogas valorisation.

The Biomethanisation project in Gennevilliers

1^st BTA Plant in France

The respective experience and know-how of BTA and AR-VAL convinced a renowned Waste Management Company south of Paris, which awarded them the contract for the design and construction of an ambitious biowaste anaerobic digestion plant.
For a total investment of approximately € 23M, this facility enables the treatment of 35,000 tonnes / year of bio-waste via the BTA® Process. 
A wide variety of waste of different origin and nature can be treated there: biowaste from households, supermarkets, restaurants, commercial, food processing industry waste, as well as liquid waste.
After receiving the waste in a pit, the BTA waste pulper is fed by an overhead crane. 
All foreign materials (plastics, glass, inerts) are removed in the BTA® Hydromechanical Pre-treatment. The obtained waste pulp is further sanitized, digested and dehydrated to produce a high quality digestate that complies with the strictest standards, in particular the draft decree relating to agronomic quality and safety criteria for fertilisers.
On the other side, the produced biogas is upgraded and more than 330 m³/h of biomethane are injected into the GRDF network, that is more than 2,8 Million m³/year. This corresponds approx. to the annual gas demand of 2.000 households with 4 persons.

BTA and its French partner AR-VAL will also assist the Waste Management Company South of Paris in the operation of the installation for 2 years and in the maintenance for 5 years.
This is the first facility with the BTA® Process built in France, the result of a successful cooperation of the two partners AR-VAL and BTA International GmbH. Further plants to certainly to follow.  

Extension of AD Castelleone (Italy)

After a decade of successful operation, the Co-Digestion Plant Castelleone is being expanded to double the treatment capacity of FORSU, from approx. 30.000 tons/year to 60.000 tons/year. The extension has been split into different lots.

Thanks to its good operation experience with the already installed equipment (BTA® Hydromechanical Pre-treatment), and keeping in mind that the key for a successful extension lay in the pre-treatment of the waste, in April 2022 LINEA AMBIENTE has assigned this lot to BTA Italia GmbH.  

Since its start-up in 2010, the plant has treated more than 250,000 tons of FORSU and commercial waste. The cleaned and sanitized organic suspension was co-digested with maize silage and pig and manure. The liquid digestate has been valorised as liquid fertilizer in the farms nearby.   

To double the treatment capacity for FORSU, the pre-treatment step will be extended by an additional pre-treatment line incl. a new pulper and two GRS units. Furthermore, a new sanitation step will be implemented to treat the produced organic suspension.

Not only the limited area available is a challenge to this project, but especially the installation of the new line while the plant is still in operation, reducing to a minimum the time period during which FORSU cannot not be processed.

There is no better proof for the trust our customers place in BTA and in our technology than an extension project like this one in Castelleone after a decade of successful operation!

Extension of the MBT Plant VALORLIS (Portugal)

After a decade of successful operation, the MBT plant in Leiria is being expanded by an additional biowaste treatment line to reflect the new environmental targets of Portugal. VALORLIS - Valorização e Tratamento de Resíduos Sólidos, S.A has assigned in September 2021 the consortium between BTA International GmbH and EFACEC Sistemas e Engenharia, S.A. with the corresponding works, as it did more than 10 years ago for the construction of the MBT plant itself.

Since its start-up in 2010, the plant has treated more than 500,000 tons of unsorted household waste. But now, with the more stringent European targets for the recovery and valorisation of organic waste, VALORLIS will also receive and process biowaste that is separately collected in the households. For this reason, VALORLIS planned the expansion of the facility by a separate treatment and digestion line for an additional 25,000 tons of biowaste per year.

The biowaste processing line will also be based on the BTA® Process, just as the existing organics treatment lines at the MBT plant. In order to keep both lines (household waste and biowaste) separate, the expansion foresees a separate pre-treatment line (according to BTA® Hydromechanical Pre-Treatment), a separate digestion line (wet digestion, mesophilic) and separate process water management.

In addition to these works, the wet-mechanical pre-treatment line for household waste is to be reinforced by replacing the original light fraction removal system with the new generation one, increasing the capacity significantly.  The same system has already been in successful operation in several MBT plants for years, e.g., in Glasgow or Malta.  

The special challenge in this project is the construction of the new line under extremely tight space conditions while the plant remains in operation, although at reduced load, in order to keep the biology running to allow for a fast start-up and ramp-up of both lines. The short timeline (both lines are scheduled to be (re)operational by the end of 2022) is other major challenge.

Gello di Pontedera (Italy)

In the near future, biowaste collected in the municipalities of Pisa, Italy, will be treated in the Anaerobic Digestion Plant in Gello di Pontedera. GEOFOR S.p.A. has commissioned BTA with the completion and commissioning of the plant - which will operate according to the BTA® Process.

The AD Plant Gello di Pontedera will be able to treat up to 44.000 ton/ year of biowaste and 7.000 ton/year of green waste. The waste will be directly fed, without any previous mechanical pre-treatment, into the BTA® Hydromechanical Pre-Treatment for the removal of impurities from the digestible organic fraction before the obtained organic suspension is processed in an wet anaerobic digestion step in two 4.000 m³ fully mixed digesters. The produced biogas, approx. 4,65 million Nm³/year will be valorized in CHP units, obtaining approx. 12 million kWh/year.

Dewatering will be executed in two steps, thus allowing reducing both the consumption of flocculants and fresh water. An intelligent process water management – another advantage of the BTA® Process – furthermore minimizes water consumption and therefore effluent water. Due to the low content of remaining impurities, the digestate solids are an ideal raw material for quality compost. Composting is executed on-site in a closed hall with boxes with a controlled aeration. Thus, the AD Plant Gello di Pontedera will allow both an energetic as well as material valorization of the biowaste collected in this region of Tuscany.