The volume of biomethane fed in allows over 8,000 homes to be supplied with gas annually. By the end of 2012, almost €20 million will be spent on this and similar projects.
Direct injection of biogas into natural gas networks opens us new opportunities for incorporating renewable energy sources. With the aid of this technology, the biogas can be transported for use elsewhere at a later date. Until now the biogas always had to be used locally in small-scale cogeneration plants to produce heat and power there. In Hamburg, 350 cubic metres of biomethane coming from Germany's first sewage gas treatment plant will be fed into the network every hour. At Gut Wotersen in Schleswig-Holstein, another 350 cubic metres of biogas will be available at the first biogas feed-in point in Schleswig-Holstein. A 700 cubic metres plant is planned in Karft in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and another cubic metres are to be supplied in Tangstedt/Bützberg near Hamburg.
The biogas has to be treated before it enters the natural gas network. For example, sulphur, moisture and carbon dioxide have to be removed from the raw gas. As the biogas has a lower energy content than the natural gas in E.ON Hanse's network, LPG has to be added to reach the required energy level. After adding an odorant to the biogas to give it the typical smell of natural gas for safety reasons, it is fed into the natural gas network via a compressor station.
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