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An Economic Analysis of Three Operational Co-digestion Biogas Plants in Germany

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Abstract

As for other renewable energies in Germany, biogas production has rapidly expanded in recent years, such that the current installed capacity in this country accounts for around half of the European total. Against this background, and recognising the actual research need in the profitability analysis of along the whole supply chains for biogas, this paper carries out an economic analysis of three operational German co-digestion biogas plants, which employ biowaste, sewage sludge and energy crops for electricity production as well as for injection of biomethane into the natural gas grid. The profitability of the considered plants is assessed using the static Profit Comparison and the dynamic Net Present Value methods. From the analysis of each of the plants based on several technical and economic assumptions, the production costs for electricity and biomethane have been derived. Investment-related costs and substrate prices represent the most important financial variables of the considered plants. The electricity production from energy crops appears to be the most lucrative option, with a dynamic pay-back period of 6.7 years. Hence, subsidies and incentive schemes for biogas play a key role for the plants using energy crops as well as for plants using biowaste and sewage sludge. Furthermore, process failures under mesophilic conditions are here briefly described and could affect the biogas yield and thus have an influence on the profitability of the plants. The obtained results represent the foundation for a forthcoming comprehensive energy system analysis of the integration of biogas into the German energy system.

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Notes

  1. These values refer to the lower calorific value for the gas and a CO2-removal through a pressurized wet scrubbing process from the company Malmberg.

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Acknowledgments

The present work has been carried out in the context of the research project “Optgas: comparative investigations in large biogas reactors—microbiological, process-related, ecological and economical assessment and optimisation”, financed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in cooperation with the German Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, with the funding code 03KB018F.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. French-German Institute for Environmental Research (DFIU), Chair for Energy Economics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hertzstrasse 16, 76187, Karlsruhe, Germany

    David Balussou, Russell McKenna & Wolf Fichtner

  2. Helmholtz-Centre Potsdam, German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Microbial Geoengineering, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Anne Kleyböcker

  3. Chair for Energy Economics, Technical University Dresden (TUD), Münchner Platz 3, 01069, Dresden, Germany

    Dominik Möst

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  1. David Balussou
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  2. Anne Kleyböcker
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  4. Dominik Möst
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  5. Wolf Fichtner
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Correspondence to David Balussou.

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Balussou, D., Kleyböcker, A., McKenna, R. et al. An Economic Analysis of Three Operational Co-digestion Biogas Plants in Germany. Waste Biomass Valor 3, 23–41 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-011-9094-2

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