Checklist for planning an AD plant project
General:
What is the aim of the biogas project?
What are the advantages for you, the public and the environment of having a biogas
plant?
Input materials biogas plants/feedstock
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What kind of feedstock do you have and how much is available?
How much feedstock can you provide?
o Agricultural products
o Slurry, poultry
o Organic waste
o Animal by product
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Is somebody interested in providing you feedstock (f. ex. slaughterhouse, potato
factory, Hotels etc.)?
Which amount of feedstock is available?
o Size of farm
o Number of cattle
 How long are the cattle outside the stable/for what time period?
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What costs do you have for the input material?
o transporting,
o harvesting
o storing the material
o spreading
o machinery
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Do you get a gate fee for the feedstock?
How much is the gate fee for the feedstock?
What kind of quality is available?
o Dry matter
o Organic dry matter
o Gas yield
o Gas yield of all feedstock
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Is the availability of the feedstock constant over
o The day,
o Next weeks,
o Next months,
o Next years
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How can continuous and uniform supply of feedstock be secured?
Do you get a log term supply contract with a fixed price and quantities, also
alternative feedstock operable?
o What is the contract duration?
o What is the guaranteed amount of feedstock supply or area of cultivation?
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What is the guaranteed quality of the delivered biomass?
What are the payment conditioned by the delivered quantity and quality?
What are the regulations for Animal by products for my feedstock(s)?
What is the capacity of the lagoon/storage?
o Do you need more capacity?
What is the chop length of my feedstock?
Is the price/are the costs of the input materials are going to be stable for the next 12
month/ 5 years?
How much does the viability of the plant depend on the costs of the input
materials?
How much ha/acre do you need to grow energy crops?
Are other farmers/neighbours interested in having a biogas plant?
Are there any other parties interested in the end product?
How can you use the end product (digestate, fertiliser)?
What is the value of the end product (NPK- concentration depending on plant
operation)?
What is the prize for the fertiliser?
Is there a possibility that rain water comes into the digester?
What is the amount of antibiotics in the feedstock? Are the stables going to be
disinfected and how often?
Could you get any problems with inhibitors in the plant (f. ex. NH3)?
What is the expected pH-Value of the digestate?
Are there already any facilities for storing the input material and the digestate?
Are any grants available for harvesting energy crops?
Existing Farm/Starting a project
For starting a project the questions from chapters “Supplier/Developer” and “Operating
a biogas plant” should definitely be taken into consideration too.
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Are you in contact with local authorities from the early stages of the project?
What are the legislations concerning
o planning permissions, permits
 plant itself
 limit values of emissions, exhaust emissions,
 noise, odours,
 impact on groundwater,
 protection on landscape,
 Work safety/building safety
o handling and recycling of manure and organic wastes, waste permit
o Animal by products, waste permit, license (see also Animal By products sub
section)
o Grid Connection (ESB), License to construct and generate (CER) (See also
“Getting connected to the grid” sub section)
How long is the distance to the next residential area?
Where can the biogas plant be located in order to save transport costs and avoid
losses?
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o What is the distance to the feedstock storage/lagoon/storage tank?
o What is the distance to the grid/substation?
o How long is the distance to the heat consumer?
o Do you have any additional transport costs?
What do your neighbours think about you building a AD facilities? What is the
opinion of other people in the town/village? Do they support you (public
consultation)?
How would the transport of feedstock to the plant/feeding system be managed
(infrastructure on existing farm)?
Have you investigated the soil before starting the earthworks?
Is the site in a potential flood affected area?
Which components could already be used on my farm (pit storage, pumps, storage
etc?) Can existing infrastructure on the farm be used for the plant?
How much heat does the digester need in the summertime/wintertime?
How much heat can be exported in the summertime/wintertime?
Where can you use the heat?
What is your heat demand at the moment?
Are any other institutions interested in using the heat?
Is there a possibility of district heating installation, f. ex.
o Pig stable, Wood chip drying, nursery, hotel, hospital
o How far are they away? How much is their heat demand during summerand wintertime?
o Is it viable to connect them (cost of pipe works, income of heat over the
next years)?
What are the regulations for Animal by products for my feedstock(s)?
What kind of safety regulations do you need on the plant?
What kind of grid connection (see chapter Grid connection) do you need (Gate
process >5000 kW; see also “Getting connected to the grid” sub section)?
How fast do you get a grid connection?
How much is the grid connection?
What is the expected retention time of the plant (f. ex. > 35 days)?
What is the expected organic loading rate of the plant (f. ex. < 4.5 kg organic dry
matter per m3 digester and day?
What are the Carbon Dioxide savings of the whole biogas plant for the usable
electricity and externally used heat?
What kinds of grants are available?
o SEAI
o Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food?
o Growing Energy Crops?
What are the eligible project characteristics for the grant?
Supplier/Developer:
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Has the developer a proven track record and experience with similar projects?
o How many similar references has the supplier already installed?
o What is the reputation of the supplier?
o How long are these plants already operating and how many kWh do they
have produced during that time?
o What is the availability of the CHP unit of these reference plants?
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Has the developer experience with the same amount and quality of feedstock?
What is the price for the plant/plant components between different suppliers?
What are the costs for:
 Planning
 Digester(s)
 Pit storage(s)
 Lagoon/storage tank
 Agitator(s)
 Pump(s)
 CHP unit
 Feeding system
 Separator
 Gas holder
 Gas cooling and Gas cleaning
 Grid Connection
 Automation
 Civil works, plant infrastructure
 Weight balance
 Construction
 Earthworks
 Etc
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How do these costs differ from supplier to supplier?
Is there a possibility to decrease these costs (Construction on your own, labour)
What exactly is included in that price (see quote)? Where is the difference?
What are the current values and the limit of operating parameters such as organic
loading rate and retention time?
How do the retention time and the organic loading rate differ from supplier to
supplier and why?
What are the dimensions of the biogas plant?
Does the constructor have a good warranty package?
Do you have an insurance incl. operating interruption insurance?
What kind of trainings does the supplier provide and how often?
Are the plant/plant components suitable for the feedstock?
If you change the feedstock are the plant components still suitable for the
feedstock?
How does the supplier manage the after sales and warranty cases?
What are the warranty conditions of the supplier?
Does the supplier offer any maintenance contracts/service contracts? How much
are these contracts between different suppliers and what exactly do they provide?
What are the costs of spare parts between different plant components/ suppliers?
How often do you have to change spare parts of the different plant components
(feeding system, mixer/agitator, pump etc.)?
What are the efficiency (thermal and electrical) rates between different CHP
suppliers?
What are the limits given by the CHP supplier for biogas components such as water,
H2S, NH3 (limit value list)? After the commissioning phase will the concentration of
these components in the biogas be under these limit?
What kind of cleaning do you have installed to secure these limits?
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What kinds of limits do you have for the motor oil? What are the limits for the motor
oil (TBN, TAN etc.)?
Where can you test the motor oil?
What are the limits for emissions (NOx, SOx, etc)? How often do you have to check
these limits?
Operating a biogas plant:
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What is the realistically expected availability of the CHP unit during the first year
(commissioning phase)? What are the working hours/full load hours of the CHP unit
for the first year (kWh)?
What is the realistically expected availability of the CHP unit during the following
years? What are the working hours/full load hours of the CHP unit for the following
years (kWh)?
Do you have enough time to operate the plant economically?
Who is going to operate the biogas plant? Does he have the time for operating the
plant?
Has the operator the qualification of operating the components of a biogas plant
(pumps, mixers, etc.)?
How can you secure that at every time (24/7) somebody could be at the biogas
plant?
What are the expected operating/running costs for the AD plant and for the CHP
unit?
o Labour AD plant/plant operator
o Maintenance CHP unit and plant components (regular maintenance by
supplier and plant personal)
o Spare parts CHP unit and plant components (mixer, pumps etc.)
o Reject of foreign matters
o Own electricity demand, electricity when plant is not running
o Own heat demand
o Sampling/Testing Biology AD plant (ABP regulations, Biology)
o Sampling Oil CHP unit
o Running costs front loader/additional machinery for plant (running costs,
maintenance, Diesel)
o Harvesting/storing bioenergy crops
o Spreading digestate/fibre
o Insurance AD plant, interruption insurance
o Organising/management/Telephone/Administration/office (overheads)
o Consultancy
o Means for AD plant (Nutrients for Biology, cleaning gas)
o regular Safety check ups, emission testing, regulations
o Sand/sediment removing
What are the operating costs during the first year?
What are the operating costs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th year (no warranty)?
What are the operating costs in ct/kWh and how much is your income ct/kWh?
What is the installed power/capacity of all plant components?
What are the losses from the generator to the grid (distance from generator to
grid)?
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How often and how long do the plant components operate during the day (pumps,
feeding system, agitator etc.)?
What is the own electricity demand of the plant components when operating
constantly for a month?
What is the electricity demand for a month (when the plant does not produce any
electricity)?
What is the expected H2S concentration in the gas?
How do you cool and clean the gas?
What are the operating/running costs of the gas cleaning/cooling system?
Where is the next supplier of
o CHP units
o Plant components (pumps, agitator etc.)
How is the after sales service organised?
o How fast do you get spare parts?
o Does the supplier have a warehouse with all spare parts?
o Has the supplier already installed these components on a similar plant?
o How many components/plants has he installed?
o Does the installer have references of similar installations, plants? Are they
satisfied with the plant?
Financial projections:
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What is your motivation of building a plant?
Why do you want to develop a biogas plant?
How much equity will you be investing?
How much finance are you looking for (bank loan) and over what time of period?
How are you intending to pay the money back?
What is the capacity of the investor to realise the project?
What is the track record and experience of the supplier, the developer and the
operator?
How much is my income and costs of this project?
What are the costs for:
o Investment/capital costs
 Cost of capital
 Depreciation
 Insurance
 Plant
 Planning
 Digester(s)
 Pit storage(s)
 Lagoon/storage tank
 Agitator(s)
 Pump(s)
 CHP unit
 Feeding system
 Separator
 Gas holder
 Gas cooling and Gas cleaning
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 Grid Connection
 Automation
 Civil works, plant infrastructure
 Weight balance
 Construction
 Earthworks
 Etc
Operating costs (see sub-section above “Operating a biogas plant”)
Input material/feedstock
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How much is my income for:
o Gate fee
o Sale of electricity
o Sale of heat
o Value/sale of fertiliser
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How much is the
o Demand of heat of the digester
o Demand of electricity of the digester
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How much are my savings for
o Electricity
o Heat in the summertime
o Heat in the wintertime
o fertiliser
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How much are the running costs in ct/kWh and how much is the feed in tariff in
ct/kWh?
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What is the payback time/revenue of the plant?
Further information:
If you have any questions or enquiries please contact:
Email: info@seai.ie
Web: www.seai.ie
Disclaimer:
This checklist or any other checklists produced by the Sustainable Energy Authority of
Ireland - is intended to provide indicative values only.
This version of the checklist was updated 20th August 2009.
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