UK becomes eighth European country to inject biomethane into the gas grid

After Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands,  Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, the UK now becomes the eighth country in Europe injecting biomethane into the national gas grid.

The first biomethane to grid project completed in the UK was created by NGVA Europe member CNG Services. At the Thames Water Didcot sewage works site, anaerobic digesters are used as part of the sewage treatment process. Biogas produced at the site undergoes a clean-up and upgrading process using a water wash technology provided by Chesterfield Biogas. This removes moisture, CO2 and H2S to produce a clean, dry gas composed of around 97% biomethane. The official launch event on October 5th marked the successful completion of the project and showcased the first biomethane injected into the grid in the UK, with the gas purchased by British Gas. “The Didcot project represents an important milestone for the UK and the start of a new energy market”, says John Baldwin, MD of CNG Services.

Watch the Didcot video on BBC News!

Didcot Biomethane to Grid (BtG) plant - Gas being put to good use

In another UK first project at the Adnams brewery, biomethane is delivered from brewery and food waste to the gas grid. The project will generate up to 4.8 million kWh/pa which would heat up to 235 homes for a year or power a family sized car for 4 million miles. In the future it is hoped that enough gas will be produced to power both the Adnams brewery and its fleet of lorries as well as injecting the remaining 60% into the grid. The project uses an innovative cryogenic C02 removal plant with the C02 being used to grow algae to make more biogas.

Watch the Adnams video on BBC News!

Following on from the success of the Didcot and Adnams projects, a 'Green Gas Certificate' scheme has been introduced which will allow the biomethane energy that enters the grid to be tracked and allocated properly to any consumers. This will allow, for example, supermarkets to have their food waste made into biomethane and injected into the grid with an equivalent amount of natural gas taken out of the gas grid at a distribution depot and used to deliver food to stores by fuelling dual fuel CNG/Diesel trucks.

NGVA Europe expresses its gratification at these UK projects, which clearly show the great ecological and economical benefits of injecting biomethane into the natural gas grid, the biggest energy storage and distribution system in Europe.

What NGVA Europe stands for

NGVA Europe currently participates in the Expert Group on Future Transport Fuels of the European Commission (DG Mobility and Transport) as the only stakeholder for NG/biomethane Vehilces (NGVs). One of NGVA Europe’s main political postulations comprehends that biomethane should preferentially be fed into the general natural gas grid. Methane powered vehicles should then be supplied from the gas grid. This can balance regional differences in biogas production and natural gas consumption by vehicles, and avoid double investment into a parallel bio-methane distribution network. Blending biogas with fossil natural gas, allows a gradual increase of non-fossil fuels without major investments in new infrastructure. However, where logistics and economics permit, captive fleets could be fuelled from closed-coupled bio-methane facilities such as sewage treatment plants.

NGVA Europe recommends that the EU needs to implement new energy regulations to encourage biomethane injection into the grid. Suitable standards need to be set to regulate the quality of biomethane that can be injected into the gas grid, specifying the chemical properties and energy content of the gas stream. The NGVA Europe Position Paper on biomethane (for Association members only) shows that setting a 10% target for all European member states in 2020 is technically feasible and can be met by available biomass resources.

Bio-CNG/LNG is the only real alternative to reduce dependency on oil derived fuels, since it can be used in cars, urban heavy-duty vehicles (trucks and buses), on medium and long distance road transport, or in ships and trains with an already existing and well proven technology.

Source: CNG Services (download the CNG Services Newsletter with references to Didcot and Adnams here!)

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Terminology:

CNG - Compressed Natural Gas

LNG - Liquefied Natural Gas

NGV - Natural Gas Vehilce

NG/biomethnane - Natural Gas and biomethane as a fuel

Bio Natural Gas (Bio-CNG) - Mixture of Natural Gas and Biomethane with up to 100 %

Note: When NGVA Europe uses the terms CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) or LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), this always and automatically also comprehends compressed or liquefied biomethane. But to simplify matters, NGVA Europe mostly makes reference to the commonly used terms CNG and LNG only. The European Emission Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 issued on July 18, 2008, consequently uses the term NG/biomethane when describing the fuel used in NGVs (Natural Gas Vehilces). NGVA Europe follows the same principle. 

NGVA Europe... for sustainable mobility

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