Boson Energy’s gasification system will be part of Stadtwerke Göttingen’s new 9 MW €15 million bioheat centre. The centre will upgrade the capacity of SWG’s existing fleet of combined heat and power capacity.
It will supply green heat to customers of Stadtwerke Göttingen with a view to also supply district cooling in the future. Göttingen is one of the ‘green cities’ of Germany and home to HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Art and its renowned biomass competence centre.
The value of the company’s part of the project is €6 million. The project aims to demonstrate commercial performance of the H3TAG biomass gasification technology developed by the company in cooperation with Swedish KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The capacity of the company’s system will be 1MWe power and 1.5 MWth of heat. The power produced corresponds to the electricity consumption of about 2000 German households.
Image source: Boson Energy.
The company’s gasifier will run on regionally sourced wood chips and wood waste from local businesses. The combined output from the gasifier and boiler unit will increase Stadtwerke Göttingen’s biogenic heat generation from 30% to 65%.
Jan Grimbrandt, CEO of Boson Energy: “Receiving a BImSchG [environmental permit] to operate in the city centre of Göttingen proves that Boson Energy’s clean technology is a true ‘in my back yard’ solution. It shows the strength of our model to use local biomass and waste to produce sustainable power, heat and thermal cooling for direct local use in demanding urban environments.”
Lead partners in the project are Stadtwerke Göttingen, Boson Energy, and bioheat manufacturer Viessmann. Other key participants include Boson Energy’s reactor manufacturing partner SAB Stahl- und Anlagebau in Luxembourg and HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Art in Göttingen.
Image source: Boson Energy.
Jochen Ritter, Head of Energy Services and District Heating, Stadtwerke Göttingen: “The new bioheat centre represents an essential part of Stadtwerke Göttingen’s growth strategy in the field of district heating. It is a project that will have a reputation beyond Göttingen with regard to energy efficiency and environmental aspects. Lowering the PEF [primary energy factor] value for the district heating supply is a key metric for us and with this project we will reach a major reduction from the current 0.43 to 0.2.”
Viessmann Holzfeuerungsanlagen GmbH will add highly efficient biomass boiler capacity to the centre to reach a combined total of 8 MWth of usable heat. When testing is completed, Boson Energy’s gasifier will supply the baseload requirement of heat and power, while Viessmann’s boiler will balance the seasonal heat demand. The combined units will increase Stadtwerke Göttingen’s biogenic heat generation from 30% to 65%. The Luxembourg government also supports Boson Energy in the project with a €2.8 million R&D grant. HAWK will provide ongoing scientific support to Stadtwerke Göttingen on performance and environment during the two-year demonstration phase. The centre is expected to enter operation in phases starting 2Q19.
Jan Grimbrandt, CEO Boson Energy: "We are very pleased with the opportunity to prove Boson Energy’s ‘in my back yard’ model together with Stadtwerke Göttingen, Viessmann, SAB, and HAWK. The potential for plants like these are in the thousands in Germany alone, and we are now taking the first steps towards addressing that market. And keep in mind that the availability of wood waste is very similar in large parts of Central and Easter Europe. Especially in Poland there is also a large fleet of small-scale coal plants that urgently need replacing."
Image source: Boson Energy.