Increased efficiency thanks to flexibility
The bioenergy sector in Germany is undergoing radical change, as hardly any new biogas plants are being built due to a changed subsidy structure focusing on demand-oriented production and supply of residual load. To this end, the two closely interlinked issues of making plants more flexible and repowering are becoming increasingly important. In order to be able to operate biogas plants efficiently and over the long term, there is no escaping this demand-oriented and modernized electricity production.
The so-called flex premium is particularly important. It has been anchored in the Renewable Energies Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz - EEG) since 2012 and promotes the expansion of a total of 1,350 MW of additional CHP capacity (flex cap) throughout Germany. This "overbuilding" of the electrical output is intended to enable biogas plants to feed in electricity as required. In addition, the EEG amendment of 2017, with the possibility of a follow-up subsidy after expiry of the 20-year remuneration guarantee, has also provided an important impetus for the move towards greater flexibility.
In order to be able to assess whether and to what extent flexibilization is economically viable for a biogas plant, we examine the following criteria as part of the basic assessment:
- Condition of the plant from a technical and economic point of view
- Organization of a network compatibility assessment
- Comparison of economic variants
- Support in direct marketing
- Adaptation of the possibilities of gas and heat storage for the "overbuilding"
- Search for economic solutions to heat recovery and usage
- Authority engineering: project outline, preliminary conference, proposal Submission