Farm uses electricity generated from sugar waste

A farm in Czech Republic is showing how valuable food crops can be grown using heat and electricity that are generated using biogas produced from agricultural waste.

The farm at Suchohrdly, about 40 km southwest of Brno, in Czech Republic, meets its own energy needs by producing biogas from a liquid slurry containing pig manure, combined with waste from a sugar mill and other plants (biomass) grown on the farm.

One tonne of this slurry is enough to produce 30 m3 of biogas, the release from European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration (Cogen) said, noting that the waste (digestate) from the biogas plant can also be used as a natural fertiliser to grow crops, thereby avoiding the need to purchase costly fertilisers from external suppliers.

Cogen’s mission is to work with European Union institutions and stakeholders to shape better policies and eliminate administrative, regulatory and market barriers to the wider use of cogeneration in Europe.

The biogas produced on the farm is used to fuel an array of five Cento combined heat and power (CHP) units, manufactured by Czech engineering company TEDOM, with a combined electrical output of 1.2 MW.

To ensure continuous operation, there are two additional Cento CHP units which are optimised to run on natural gas with a combined electrical output of 600 kW.

The heat and electricity from these CHP units is used on the farm, to supply the biogas plant and a large greenhouse, where fresh herbs are being grown across an area of over 10 000 m2.

“Thanks to a well-thoughtout approach to electricity and heat supply, the agricultural operation in Suchohrdly has become almost self-sufficient,”explains TEDOM’s Leoš Vejtasa.

Vejtasa adds that for the past 17 years, TEDOM has been following with interest how cogeneration technology contributes to the development of sustainable food production.

“This approach can be an inspiration for similar facilities in Europe and around the world,” Vejtasa concludes.