Festive inauguration of the Zittau Biomethane Plant

GICON served as project developer and designer

In 2008, GICON received the order to develop a feasibility study for the construction of a biogas plant in Zittau from the ENSO Energie Sachsen Ost AG.  Together with the Zittau Public Utilities Department, ENSO AG was planning the expansion of its activities in the field of renewable energies and found GICON to be a suitable partner for the entire project development.  For this reason, a special purpose company was established in 2009 by ENSO AG and Zittau Public Utilities Department, Biomethan Zittau GmbH.

Four years later, on 4 May 2012, the biomethane plant that was erected at the headquarters of the Zittau Public Utilities Department on Friedenstrasse was inaugurated into service.

As project developer, GICON took over the entire acquisition of feedstock in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland, developed feedstock contracts and supported the client in contracts negotiations with Polish farmers. In its capacity as designer, GICON developed the system concept as well as the preliminary and schematic designs for the biomethane plant, tendered and negotiated sub-contractor services and prepared the permit application. The infrastructure, gas feed-in station and pressure elevation portions of the plant were planned by GICON through all project phases. As part of the construction work, supervision and support were provided.  Furthermore, economic feasibility calculations were prepared for appropriate concepts relating to use of biomethane in the cogeneration and district heating networks as well as isolated city networks.

Since 1 April 2012, the biogas plant, which is operated primarily with corn, grass and whole-plant grain silage, has been generating at full capacity of approx. 1,000 standard cubic meters of raw biogas per hour. After appropriate treatment to natural gas quality, this gas is fed into the Zittau Public Utilities Department network. For the production of biogas, a conventional wet digestion method is used; the treatment is accomplished by pressure washing. The renewable raw materials for biogas production come largely from Poland. The feedstock is harvested on the Polish side and stored as silage. The logistical management was awarded to local service providers on both the German and Polish sides. "The project is a living, practical example of cross-border cooperation in the three-country-region; the sustainable transition from fossil to renewable resources has been implemented and the region strengthened," said Matthias Hänsch, CEO of Biomethan Zittau GmbH during the ceremony.

GICON would like to take this opportunity to thank ENSO AG, Stadtwerken Zittau GmbH and Biomethan Zittau GmbH for the trust and good cooperation.