Overview of biomethane markets and regulations ... - Green Gas Grids

Sweden
Status quo- biogas plants and biomethane plants
Sweden started biogas production as early as 1960s at waste water treatment
plants, mainly to reduce sludge quantity. Later, during the energy crises, the focus
shifted towards energy production and several additional organic substrates started
being used for biogas production.
Sweden has always been active in developing renewable fuels and has pioneered
work in the deployment of biogas upgrading technologies during the last two
decades. According to the Swedish Gas Centre, in 2010 there were 47 plants in
operation that upgraded biogas to biomethane, seven of which are connected to the
public grid. The most common utilisation pathway for biomethane is the use in the
transport sector. In 2010, 608 GWh of biomethane was produced, of which
572 GWh (94 %) was sold as vehicle fuel. The Swedish example is the most
successful in regard to the integration of biogas in the transport sector. Figure 10
shows that the share of biomethane in CNG vehicle fuel already exceeds 60 %.
Figure 10: Share of biomethane in Swedish supply for vehicle fuel in
GWh (source SGC)
About the half of the upgrading facilities are installed at waste water treatment
plants. However, gas sourced from municipal solid waste, from agricultural
biomass, and from industrial biowaste is also upgraded to biomethane. The
technology most commonly used for CO2 removal is water scrubbing, but also PSA
and chemical adsorption technology are applied as well.
Sweden has enormous biomass potential in terms of BioSNG (renewable gas
sourced from forest residuals), and thus the national government supports research
and development initiatives in this sector. An example for R&D activities is the
Gothenburg Biomass Gasification Project (GoBiGas project), run by Göteborg
Energi. At the end of the project a gas production at commercial scale is envisaged
with a capacity of 80 MW biomethane. The second large player, E.ON, is planning
on erecting its own gasifier in either Malmö or Landskrona. All Swedish players
interested in thermal gasification are cooperating on research and development
under the auspices of the Swedish Gas Centre.
Political targets for biogas and biomethane production
By 2020, the Swedish Parliament decided the proportion of renewable energy
should be at least 50 % of the total energy usage. The share of renewable energy
in the transport sector must rise to at least 10 %. The government’s vision is that
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