Family biomethane plant in Masovia: farmers and agriKomp build an installation next to a gas pipeline

Three farmers from one family, running a dairy farm in the municipality of Ostrów Mazowiecka in Masovia, began in September 2024 preparations to build an agricultural biomethane plant. The investment partner is agriKomp Polska, for which this is the first biomethane project in the country. The gas is to go into the distribution network, rather than – as originally planned – electricity.

Why biomethane instead of electricity

Initially the family planned an ordinary agricultural biogas plant, but gave it up because it could not obtain full electricity grid connection conditions. The location of the plot next to a gas pipeline proved advantageous – this decided the change of concept. This is a repeating pattern: limitations of the electricity grid push investors towards biomethane if a gas network is nearby.

Project parameters

The installation is to use exclusively agricultural feedstocks: mainly manure and slurry from over 1,500 dairy cows and a small amount of maize that is not suitable for feeding. It comprises three digesters, a digestate tank and a control building. The biogas will be upgraded in an agriPure Cube membrane module, designed to meet the distribution system operator's requirements for calorific value. The digestate will go as fertiliser to the fields of the family's farms. Construction was planned to start at the turn of September and October 2024, with completion and grid connection in summer 2025. The investment value and the capacity of the installation were not disclosed.

According to the assumptions, selling biomethane was to bring better results than selling electricity, and the project was to use the 20-year FIP premium, with sales to a foreign buyer under a contract. agriKomp announced that this would be its 44th installation in Europe with this technology, and planned to sign contracts for three more biomethane plants in Poland.

Significance for the industry in Poland

The example shows the "agricultural biomethane plant" model: a small or medium-sized livestock farm supplies slurry, membrane upgrading comes from a technology supplier, and a foreign buyer purchases the biomethane together with guarantees of origin. It is a model free from the pressure of competition for maize. At the same time it reveals weak points: the availability of a gas connection, certainty of support and time to completion.

What next

Construction is to start at the turn of September and October 2024, and completion and connection to the gas grid were planned for summer 2025. How realistic these dates are depends on equipment deliveries, arrangements with the network operator and the FIP support system. For the market, the project is a test of the "agricultural biomethane plant" model: if it works, interest in similar investments among livestock farms may rise markedly, because slurry is a feedstock available in large quantities in Poland.