Building a Biogas Project with ReGenerate
The first step
is to survey the community or county – to determine just how much biogas potential exists (feedstock survey) and where the optimal locations for anaerobic digesters and electricity generation would be (pre-feasibility study). I call it a General Resource Assessment (GRA).
In addition to members of the community, ReGenerate works with its partners at the local distribution companies, area food producers and processors, and waste management companies to complete the GRA.
After that,
feasibility studies are completed, to determine the exact cost and amount of time needed to start each biogas plant, and applications are made to the Ontario Power Authority’s feed-in tariff (FIT) program.
To help fund these costs,
Numerous grants and low interest loans are available to community groups and municipalities in Ontario to fund ’soft costs’ like planning and feasibility work. The Community Energy Partnership Program was created last year, specifically to fund pre-project planning costs for community power projects, like biogas plants. ReGenerate will help you get access to this money, so we can take the next steps.
The next steps
include selecting the right type of digester and a reliable design/build engineering firm, and working with these partners to get the biogas plants up and running in an efficient manner – the power contracts are awarded on a ’shovel ready’ basis.
To pay for each biogas plant, ReGenerate partners with the farmer who’ll be hosting the digester (primary , the renewable energy co-operative, the local utility, the municipality, and possibly the local credit union. This ensures that any and all value that is created, stays within the region.
Once complete and operating,
biogas plants tend to require approximately 1 hour of operating time per day to work properly. The reality is that farmers have a full time job already and they aren’t the best men for this job. Operating a digester and a 499 kW engine requires thorough safety knowledge and an understanding of how the digester works in order for it to work at its best and produce the projected amount of biogas.
ReGenerate’s local staff take up this function; with adequate safety and operations training a high standard of performance can be achieved across the region.