“World History,” Minister of Trade Morten Bødskov said, when energy and fiber network conglomerate Andel and global biogas producer Nature Energy inaugurated the world’s first commercial plant to increase biogas production through electrolysis and biological methanation in October.
Andel and Nature Energy’s work in the green transition has reached a significant milestone in Glansager on Als:
Just a year after entering into a partnership where the two companies invested DKK 100 million in a biological Power-to-X plant, they are already ready to start production of green hydrogen.
This is important news for the decarbonization of Danish energy production. Andel’s electrolysis plant converts surplus electricity from solar and wind into hydrogen, which is fed into Nature Energy’s methanation plant, where it meets CO2. This creates e-methane, which increases biogas production from the existing biogas plant and reduces CO2 emissions.
World history on Als
When the plant is fully operational in spring 2024, the produced hydrogen will enhance Nature Energy’s production of green gas by 12,000 cubic meters per day. For comparison, a single-family house uses approximately 1,300-1,500 cubic meters of gas per year.
Therefore, Minister of Trade Morten Bødskov, who presided over the inauguration of the plant, sees great potential in the new technology:
“Today, a piece of world history has been written in Southern Jutland. For the first time in the world, e-methane biogas can now be produced commercially from Als. This is the kind of innovative thinking that will drive the green transition forward,” said the minister, who called the project ‘a textbook example’ of what close collaboration between knowledge institutions and businesses can achieve.
Concrete Difference
The plant is part of Business Beacon South, which aims to promote ideas for green conversion and sector coupling.
“It is important that the business beacon is connected to the energy cluster’s expertise,” says Glenda Napier, CEO of Energy Cluster Denmark, which facilitates the business promotion efforts in Business Beacon South:
“The plant is an excellent example of how, by collaborating on common innovation and technology development, we can make a real difference for the green transition – both in the short and long term,” she says.
Andel’s CEO Jesper Hjulmand shares this view. He sees the partnership as an example of how increasing interaction between different sectors in the energy industry can be an effective way to tackle the climate crisis.
“We must combat climate change. Now. We do this by accelerating the green transition. That’s why we’re testing green technological solutions in collaboration with companies like Nature Energy, so we can learn how best and fastest to contribute to reducing our overall CO2 emissions and stopping the climate crisis,” he says.
Growth and Inspiration
The Power-to-Gas plant is a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions in Sønderborg Municipality, and Mayor Erik Lauritzen (A) sees the inauguration and the plant as an important step forward:
“We already have a 57 percent reduction in Sønderborg Municipality, and many are already looking our way to find the right solutions. We can benefit from this – especially among companies – when we can show the rest of the world how climate change can be translated into growth through the export of green solutions,” he says.
And there’s something to go after, emphasizes Ole Hvelplund, CEO of Nature Energy.
“As an industry, we are very young and still in the process of developing, which in Denmark we have the opportunity to lead. We have not yet seen the full potential of this circular energy form, and the plant here in Glansager is a strong proof of the central role that organic waste and biogas play in the green transition,” he says.
Fact I – How Biogas is Produced
Biogas is extracted from organic waste from households, industry, and agriculture and consists of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CH4 (methane), which can replace the natural gas that can be extracted from underground. Hydrogen (hydrogen) is mixed with biogas and reacts with CO2. This forms CH4, also called e-methane because it is made using electrolysis.
In this way, the energy amount increases from the same amount of organic waste. A particular benefit of the plant in Glansager is that it can be turned on and off as needed, especially when there is surplus power from wind turbines. Thus, the plant helps balance the energy system when more green electricity is produced than consumed.
Fact II – Partners and Support
Part of the project is supported by Business Beacon South. The funds come from the Danish Business Promotion Board and the EU’s REACT program.
The technology has been proven in collaboration between the University of Southern Denmark, DTU, Biogasclean, and Nature Energy as a business Ph.D. and started in a test tube in a laboratory in 2019.
When the plant is fully operational in spring 2024, the produced hydrogen will boost Nature Energy’s production of green gas by 12,000 cubic meters per day. For comparison, a single-family house uses approximately 1,300-1,500 cubic meters of gas per year.
