With their investment, operators Antonio and Francesco Bressan are making the most of the benefits of the Renewables Decree, which was passed back in 2013. The plant owned by the two farmers, who breed pigs and manufacture animal feed, will be operated with 13,000 tonnes of pig slurry and 900 tonnes of poultry litter. Supplementing the company’s proven plant technology in a compact format, the plant also showcases EnviTec’s expertise in digester and CHP systems: alongside a mixing tank, a digester and two digestate tanks, the 45th plant constructed by EnviTec in Italy also features a co-generation plant as a modular container.
“With a reduced maize component in biogas plant input and a higher feed-in tariff for compact plant, the Italian government made sweeping changes to the market situation three years ago,” says Lars von Lehmden, Managing Director of EnviTec Anlagenbau. “Even so, we have made the most of the opportunities offered to us by this segment.”
Laboratory for all-round organic services
EnviTec’s trademark container system means plants can be installed and brought online very quickly, and is a key reason why EnviTec Biogas is one of the leading providers on the Italian market and continues to grow as an all-rounder with a full-service portfolio. Only last year, EnviTec Biogas Italia S.r.l. opened an 80 m² laboratory at its branch office headquarters in Verona. “This range of services completes our service portfolio in Italy while setting new standards in the market,” explains von Lehmden. Overall, the operators of around half of the 45 biogas plant installations completed by EnviTec in Italy make use of services from EnviTec.
It was therefore no surprise that EnviTec Biogas was the first choice for the operators of Azienda Agricola Mauro Crotti in Offanengo, Cremona. “In Cremona, the colleagues in our local team have just signed another contract for one of our EnviFarm Compact Plants,” adds von Lehmden. Scheduled to be in service before the end of the year, the 99 kW plant will use a mix of pig and cow slurry.
Biomethane: a trend for tomorrow
Complementing the compact plant segment, EnviTec Biogas also sees chances for biomethane in Italy. Upgraded biogas in natural gas quality is either directly fed into the existing natural gas network or offered for sale at service stations. “There is strong demand for our EnviThan technology both domestically and internationally, and we are also hoping for new orders from the Italian market – promising contractual negotiations are now already underway,” von Lehmden concludes.
