High efficiency in Saarland for a major energy provider

A milestone for environmentally friendly energy production in Saarland, Germany:

After just a year’s construction time the AD plant with gas-to-grid injection in Merzig, Germany, was commissioned in June 2011. The plant was built by Agraferm whose specially developed high dry matter digestion process enables the digestion of energy crops without the addition of slurry or liquids with little energy. Consequently the construction with digesters of smaller volume is possible and so reduces construction costs.

The plant will produce about 560 Nm³/h of biomethane, which will be injected into the high-pressure gas grid. The plant is located on a site of just 2 hectares and has a primary energy output ofabout 5 MW. That size is equivalent to that of a conventional CHP AD plant, generating about 2.4 MW of electricity.

The distinguishing features of the Agraferm technology are a reduced digester volume with, at the same time, a higher energy output. The digesters used here have a volume of 3,330 m³, are made of concrete, heated by heating circuits integrated in the walls and base and are covered with an airtight concrete flat roof, supporting the patented vertical agitators for the digestion process at a high dry matter level and at a high load.