Energy supplier turns farmer

In a far corner of the industrial zone in the Limburg city of Tongeren energy producer Biopower treats maize from surrounding farmers to produce a fermenting mixture from which methane gas is extracted. “The gas could in effect be injected directly into the natural gas grid as green gas,” explains owner and managing director of the inititiator, NPG Energy, André Jurres during a guided visit. However, as the procedures for biogas injection into the Fluxys grid are not yet in place, green current is produced instead. Biopower Tongeren, an 11-million euro strong outfit, can provide in this way about 6 500 households with electricity each year. Jurres, known as the former founder and CEO of current supplier Essent Belgium, plans to build similar installations, but first he demands more clarity from the government of Flanders about its plans to support investors in green energy. The basic principles in respect of new green current support programmes do exist, but the details and implementation of the programmes are not ready yet. Jurres currently has projects to the value of 60 million euros in the pipeline for NPG Energy. “They have been approved, but can only go ahead once we have legal certainty,” says Jurres. He further explains that the allocation of 10 years support is insufficient for certain technologies: “I cannot write off all power stations in such a short time”. There are however less costly vegetable alternatives to maize to produce green current from biomass. A study conducted by Hasselt University professor Steven Van Passel shows that manure, road verge grass cuttings, garden refuse and other residual products also serve as viable options for biogas extraction. The entire process could be even more profitable if the waste residue and surplus heat could also be marketed. That’s exactly what happens at Biopower Tongeren. “The residual product is a brown, grainy mass which can be sold as soil improver. We hardly ever waste heat as we use it to dry the residual product,” says Olivier Carlens, who is responsible for Biopower’s operations.