Status: 08/03/2022 09:36 a.m
Experts assume that up to 46 percent of the electricity produced by gas-fired power plants can be covered by biogas. Overall, the share of biomethane in the German gas market could triple.
So far, biomethane, i.e. processed biogas, has had a share of just one percent on the German gas market. However, this proportion could increase to around three percent in the medium term, as shown by a short study by the German Biomass Research Center in Leipzig and the Wuppertal Institute.
More biogas for electricity production
Even without being processed into biomethane, biogas can contribute to flexible electricity production when it is converted into electricity on site. According to the study, up to 46 percent of the electricity production currently generated by gas-fired power plants could be covered from biogas. The clients were the Leipzig energy company Energy2market and the Berlin consulting firm DWR eco.
In the gas crisis, the federal government is striving for a stronger contribution from renewable energies in order to push natural gas out of the electricity sector. “In particular, biogas production is to be expanded by, among other things, suspending the specified annual maximum production of the plants,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced almost two weeks ago.
Numerous hurdles for more biogas
Sandra Rostek, head of the capital’s bioenergy office, welcomed the statements made by the Federal Minister of Economics as an “encouraging and positive signal”, but also pointed out numerous obstacles to implementation. In order to remove as many obstacles as possible, the Biogas Association believes that simplifications in the Renewable Energy Sources Act and in construction and approval law are required.
If these are implemented, around 20 percent of the current biogas plant stock could be mobilized in the short term, which corresponds to a total of 19 billion kilowatt hours of gas or seven billion kilowatt hours of electricity plus heat generation, according to the association.
Government incentives necessary?
The short study by the German Biomass Research Center Leipzig and the Wuppertal Institute also highlights the high hurdles for the extended use of biogas plants. The capacity of the systems would have to be increased many times over so that they can be used flexibly.
“The necessary flexibility in terms of energy management would pose technical and economic challenges for plant operators that would be difficult to realise,” said Jakob Medick from DWR eco. Government incentives are therefore necessary so that biogas can partially take over the function of natural gas in the future electricity system.
Biogas plants still have free capacity
These incentives could have an effect, especially in the medium term. The authors of the study think it is possible that biogas plants can replace backup power plants operated with natural gas in 2035, when the electricity in Germany is to come almost entirely from renewable energies. These power plants should be used flexibly and at short notice if, for example, too little wind and solar power is available.
According to information from the bioenergy industry, there are almost 10,000 biogas plants in Germany that produce around 95 terawatt hours (TWh) of biogas annually. Around 85 TWh of this is converted into electricity and heat on site and around 10 TWh are fed into the gas grid. According to the Capital Office for Bioenergy, most plants do not produce the technically maximum possible amount of biogas due to various restrictions.
Greenpeace criticism
Greenpeace recently criticized the increased use of biogas plants. “Biogas is not an alternative to natural gas. Because the cultivation of energy crops displaces food production and any further pressure on natural ecosystems endangers biodiversity,” the non-governmental organization recently complained in a statement.