EUDP project concludes: Samsø might be able to produce biogas locally
Category: Fossil-free island
Project manager Trine Balskilde Stoltenborg
A feasibility study of the biogas chain on Samsø has concluded that there is a possible basis for establishing a biogas plant on the island. Such a plant would allow the ferry between Jutland and the island to sail on locally produced biogas.
In the recently completed EUDP project Biogas for Transportation, a biogas plant on Samsø is seen as a significant step toward becoming 100% fossil-free. The ambition is to become a model society for the national 2050 target for a fossil-free Denmark – already by 2030.
Since January 2015 the ferry to Jutland has sailed on liquefied natural gas (LNG). The ferries are the island’s lifeblood – and the single largest consumers of fossil fuels for transport. The ferry Isabella is the natural focus of the island’s green transition at this stage, because in the future it may be able to sail on locally produced biogas, upgraded and cooled to liquid bio natural gas (LBNG). The ferry will be able to absorb the bulk of the biogas that can be produced on the island, creating the market basis to initiate the process of setting up a biogas chain on the island.
The study has shown that there is sufficient biomass resources on the island to produce the amount of biofuels required to divert transport to fossil-free operation.
A calculation of production costs in each stage of the biogas chain shows that it will be possible to produce liquefied and compressed gas at a price equal to the market price of LNG (2015).
But only if it is possible to get grants for the upgrade, according to the Energy Agreement of 2012. It can be a challenge for the island, which has no natural gas network to upgrade to. It is expected, however, that there may be a solution that can put the island and other remote areas unable to connect to the natural gas network on the same footing as the rest of Denmark on this issue.
Read the full study here Energiinstituttet.dk