Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the size and ownership of the property
.
classification of the property in official spatial plans
.
legal aspects, including the required permits
.
dedicated characteristics of the site
.
.
access to necessary infrastructure
opportunities to sell the heat
.
.
vicinity to neighbors
competition with other biogas plant operators and farmers.
.
The size of the property depends on the size of the plant and clearly must be
large enough. Eventual extension of the plant at a later stage should be
considered in the initial planning phase. A 500 kW
el
agricultural biogas
plant requires about 4000m
2
for the digesters, gas storage, electric generator
and auxiliary facilities. If the biogas plant is operated with energy crops (e.g.
corn silage), seasonality of the feedstock (in central Europe corn is harvested
only once a year) requires an additional 5400m
2
. Thus, a biogas plant of
500 kW
el
would need a total of about 1 ha. This figure is only a guiding
value, as the actual area requirement also depends on the chosen
technology. Plants that operate on a just-in-time delivery, which applies
to biogas plants continuously using manure or MSW, need much smaller
areas. Moreover, the produced digestate requires on-site storage. In many
countries, digestate and any other fertilizers can only be applied during the
vegetation season and must therefore be stored during winter in specially
established storage facilities. Such a storage facility for a 500 kW
el
plant
requires an additional 4 ha.
Potential sites for biogas plants should ideally be owned by the plant
operator or operating company. Often, this is also a precondition of
investors and financing bodies. Long-term land leasing contracts may be
also an option. If the site is already owned by the biogas plant operator (e.g.
farmer), the use of existing infrastructure (e.g. houses, bunker silos, etc.)
may be used for the biogas plant and may increase the economy of the plant
if this infrastructure is already amortized.
Spatial plans provide information on the classification of the land that
may be potentially used for a biogas plant. Depending on the applied
legislation, the land may be classified as a conservation area, an agricultural
area, a settlement area, site value too high to use for biogas facility or an
industrial site. It must be considered that the procedure for setting up a
biogas plant in a conservation area is more time consuming and more
expensive (if it is allowed at all) than for an industrial area. Conservation
areas may include water protection areas, landscape conservation areas and
high biodiversity areas. Generally, the use of agricultural or industrial land,
or even degraded land, is preferred. Closely related to land classification are
the requirements for getting the permits. The costs and the duration of the
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