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    Customer Case Study: Adapt Biogas

    Flogas powers UK’s first biogas-to-grid plant

    Adapt Biogas is a leading producer of biogas – a renewable gas produced from the breakdown of organic matter, including residual cattle feed, cattle manure, and agricultural crops. The company is the first in the UK to generate its own onsite heat and electricity using liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Flogas.

    Feeding two combined heat and power (CHP) engines, this provides electricity to power the company’s unique biogas-to-grid injection system as well as heat to kickstart its biogas production cycle.

    The anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Murrow, Cambridgeshire, is the nation’s first to inject biomethane at high pressure directly into the National Grid’s National Transmission System (NTS). Its current connection is set up for 2,000 sm3 of biomethane per hour.

    Location

    Murrow, Cambridgeshire

    Application

    Combined heat and power (CHP) generation

    However, a planned new injection line will support flows of up to 15,000 sm3 per hour, which is enough renewable gas to supply more than 87,500 households each year. In a bid to increase renewable energy sources across the UK, this will also aid other anaerobic digestion sites with a lack of grid export capacity, to reach their full production potential.

    Shenton Group designed a turnkey solution comprising two 500KW CHPs and a 330kVA generator, as well as a system to monitor and react to the site’s mains connection condition. This allowed them to maximise power stability whilst
    complying with the strict requirements from the DNO. These CHPs produce enough electricity and heat to power the gas injection process whilst also supporting its gas upgrading system, converting biogas to grid-ready biomethane.

    The upgrade enabled the new equipment to synchronise and co-operate with the legacy CHP units already on-site, providing cost savings and further sustainability benefits. Fuelling these CHPs is an above-ground LNG tank adjacent to the AD plant and close to the engines and grid entry compound. This is fitted with a telemetry system, along with gas and fire detection, allowing Flogas to safely operate the plant unmanned and remotely monitor gas usage, automatically scheduling deliveries when needed.

    Gas to grid injection is a highly comprehensive renewable energy solution,
    so we needed to find a way to generate our own reliable, uninterrupted power supply whilst keeping costs down.

    We also wanted to make sure we were using a low carbon fuel, minimising our impact on the environment. That’s why we decided to run our CHP engines on LNG. Not only is it one of the lowest carbon conventional off-grid fuels you can use, but it’s the most cost-effective solution for us. It also allows us to run effectively in island mode, reducing concerns
    about power outages or costly downtime.

    Sophie Swan | Operations manager at Adapt Biogas

    By using LNG to fuel its CHP engines, Adapt Biogas is able to forgo significant carbon emissions. This is because of LNG’s low CO2e emissions compared to other common fuels. Flogas is very happy to support Adapt Biogas’ (and ultimately the UK’s) effort to adopt low carbon fuels in order to meet climate change targets.

    Sophie adds, “We have a strong working relationship with Flogas, from previous assistance at other sites. We knew we could trust them to show us the best solution for our Murrow plant and make it all happen seamlessly, even during what’s been a tricky 12 months due to the pandemic.

    We feel really supported by the team and deliveries are reliable, so we’re always confident we’ve got the LNG supply we need. We’re growing quickly as a business, so we look forward to working with Flogas more as we expand into additional sites.”

    This is the first time LNG has been used to power CHPs, plus it’s our first CHP biogas-to-grid solution, so it was really exciting to be part of such a unique project.

    Adapt Biogas has high volume, high intensity fuel needs, so LNG was the most efficient and economical solution for them. Our expert engineers worked closely with the team from the start to create a fully bespoke system that would meet their exact fuel requirements and we managed the whole process for them, from design through to installation
    and commissioning.

    Mark Rutherford, Flogas National Business Development Manager.

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