In June, the investment company Energy financial group (EFG) started biomethane production at the biogas plant EFG Vyškov BPS. The plant is one of the few facilities in the Czech Republic to process biodegradable waste into the above mentioned low-emission gas, electricity and thermal energy. This is EFG’s second biomethane production plant, the first in its portfolio and in the country being EFG Rapotín BPS, which started operation more than five years ago.
“By rebuilding our plant in Vyškov, we were able to increase the annual capacity of biodegradable waste processing by more than half to 30,000 tonnes per year. The biogas production capacity has thus increased from the original 160 to 650 cubic metres per hour. Through the newly installed biomethane production unit, the plant is also able to produce up to 30 GWh of green gas per year from this amount, which is a locally produced, wholesome substitute for fossil fuels,” says Pavel Bureš, Technical Director of EFG.
The significant expansion of the reception hall has contributed to the increase in the waste processing capacity of the station from the original 12 to 30 thousand tonnes of waste per year. It includes newly installed technology for automatic separation of waste from original food packaging, which allows the facility to accept a wide range of organic components. These include, for example, expired food from markets or households, gastro waste from restaurants and catering businesses, and organic waste from industrial plants. “In order to increase waste processing capacity and biogas production, we have also optimised the input waste tanks during the plant upgrade. We increased their volume to 10,000 cubic metres,” adds Pavel Bureš. As part of the reconstruction, which began last August, a new administrative and operational building with office space and facilities for the station’s employees was also built on the site.
The importance of biomethane for the Czech energy sector is confirmed by its growing quantity in the public distribution network GasNet, which distributes this renewable gas from the biogas plant in Vyškov to customers in the city and its surroundings. “Vyškov is already the seventh biomethane plant supplying gas to our network. These plants produce about 2800 MWh of energy per month. We currently have 20 more connection contracts signed and we have over 50 other interested entities with projects in various stages of preparation,” says Tomáš Pernis, spokesman for the GasNet Group.
“We managed to complete the significant expansion of the biogas plant in Vyškov into the largest waste-utilizing facility in the South Moravia region within one year, which we are extremely pleased about. It is now capable of converting biogas into biomethane for nearly 2,000 households per year or BioCNG for more than 2,200 cars with an annual mileage of nearly 45 million kilometres. This makes it the second station in our portfolio to use biodegradable waste that would otherwise end up in landfills to produce biomethane, electricity and heat, which contributes not only to environmental protection but also to Czech energy self-sufficiency,” says Tomáš Voltr, Executive Director of Energy financial group.
Energy financial group has already invested over CZK 250 million in the conversion of EFG Vyškov BPS into a modern biomethane station, including an investment in upgrading biogas to biomethane. By the end of 2025 (and in the following years), the group plans to continue expanding its portfolio of biogas and biomethane stations and investing in new facilities with a total biomethane production capacity of 100 GWh. The Group plans to be able to process up to 100,000 tonnes of otherwise unused, almost exclusively landfilled organic waste per year (rather than the purpose-grown crops common for biogas plants). In addition, the Group is planning other projects to expand its portfolio of renewable sources or power balance services.
