- Review of potential supplies of biogas and Biomethane in U.K. and EU.
- Analysis of the U.K. / EU biogas and Biomethane subsidy regimes.
- The development of gas to power strategies to support renewables.
- Technical aspects of biogas and Biomethane production.
Case Studies
Background
The Client was in the process of developing Europe’s first commercial waste-to-jet-fuel plant in the UK. As part of this, the Client was investigating the possibility of importing biomethane in order to balance its hydrogen needs.
Overview of the Project
MJMEnergy Ltd. provided assistance with developing a report in order to investigate the current status of the biomethane market within Europe. In particular, MJMEnergy covered the following topics:
- The current European biomethane market volume and prices
- Supply volume breakdown by country
- Sales volume and price breakdown by country and whether these prices do, or do not, include incentives
- Feedstock breakdown by country – What proportion comes from energy crops as opposed to wastes
- Regulatory regimes that have a significant impact on European biomethane pricing
- List of aggregators likely to be capable of contracting for a 10-year term for volumes equivalent to 1TWh demand per annum
- Typical contract length, structure and terms such as ‘Take-or-pay’
- Opinion on major factors affecting supply/demand and pricing
- Review of additional plants across the EU which are connected to the grid and not using crops
- Exploration of the aggregation/trading process of buying and using biomethane
- Exploration of how many biogas plants could be converted to biomethane plants
Gathering and analysing key data – MJMEnergy gathered and analysed data on the current European biomethane market volume and prices from a mixture of public domain databases, direct contact via email/telephone with plant owners/operators and MJMEnergy’s own database.
Extensive Analysis – The Project Team provided detailed assessments for a number of areas including potential routes to new supplies; likely necessary contract terms; and the European biomethane market volume and prices.
Preparation and Delivery of a Workshop – Upon completion of data gathering and analysis, the Project Team presented the results in a PowerPoint format in a half-day workshop. Given the circumstances concerning the Coronavirus, this workshop was run online.
Project Conclusions
Upon conclusion of this Project, MJMEnergy Ltd. were able to address a number of key issues sought by the Client as follows:
- What level of demand needs to be met?
- Can the network meet this requirement?
- Is UK biomethane production big enough?
- How will the Client secure its gas supply going forward?
With regards to this last point, MJMEnergy Ltd. provided a series of recommendations highlighting a potential way forward for the Client including:
- A list of key UK Government ministries the Client should consider engaging with as soon as possible
- A recommendation that the Client develop its gas purchasing strategy as soon as possible
- A list of people which the Client might like to engage with at some point in the future
Background
MJMEnergy were requested by a partner company to provide technical and commercial support under a framework contract with a regulatory body in relation to issues associated with the development of a CNG in a particular province, which would require the connection of CNG service stations to the local gas network.
Overview of the Project
MJMEnergy Ltd. provided assistance with developing a report for the regulator covering the following topics:
- A review of any technical issues associated with connection to either the medium-pressure or high-pressure pipeline system.
- A review of the overall technical approach being proposed and its compliance to relevant technical standards.
- A review or the potential market for biomethane supplies.
The Technical Review – In order to undertake this work MJMEnergy firstly gathered and analysed data provided by the regulator, and secondly engaged with the technical team from the relevant company in order to discuss and understand their proposals. In particular this work focused on understanding the technology deployed and the methodology used in relation to connecting to the gas grid.
Engagement with appropriate engineering standards – In addition to the above the MJMEnergy Project Team also checked the compliance of the proposed CNG connection and operational regime with technical engineering standards relevant to the development to this project in order to ensure compliance.
Analysis of local network operation – During discussions with the regulator some questions were raised over the ability of the local network to provide sufficient network capacity to meet the required network flows. Therefore the MJMEnergy Project Team also carried some simple analysis of the network in order to ensure the local network would indeed be able to meet the needs of this project.
Analysis of the market for biogas and biomethane – Finally, the MJMEnergy Project Team were asked to explore wider issues pertaining to the potential size of the biomethane that might provide gas for the CNG market. also able to place the proposed project in the wider context of the growth of the biomethane market.
Project Conclusions
Upon conclusion of this Project, the MJMEnergy Project Team had been able to undertake the following:
- To review all the main technical aspects of the proposed project and satisfy both itself and the regulator that the proposal was both technically feasible and compliant with the relevant standards.
- That there would be an on-going market for CNG in the short to medium term,
- That the local network had the technical capacity to meet the initial needs of this proposal.
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