NNFCC

Options and opportunities in advanced

electricity production from wastes

Dr Geraint Evans

Head of Biofuels and Bioenergy

October 2012

NNFCC

Content

• UK Government’s recently published Bioenergy strategy

• Opportunities for gasification

– Waste

– Heat

– Advanced biofuels

– Coal conversion

NNFCC

Bioenergy Strategy - April 2012

• Sets out the Governments approach to ensuring that the

benefits from bioenergy are secured.

• Four principles ensure:

– Looking out to 2050, genuine carbon reductions are

achieved

– Bioenergy is cost effective

– Regular assessment of potential unintended

consequences

• Uncertainty is not sufficient to justify inaction. Lower risk

pathways have been identified:

– Use of wastes

– Heat (direct biomass and biomethane)

– Transport, in particular advanced biofuels

– Electricity, primarily coal conversion but also CHP –

longer term, CCS becomes important.

NNFCC

Bioenergy strategy

identifies gasification

as a key opportunity –

values its flexibility

NNFCC

Flexible / “no regrets” technologies

• Mitigate against inherent uncertainties of projecting deployment scenarios over long

timescales (including the uncertainties around CCS)

– Emerging analysis (TINA) suggests that the development of advanced conversion

technologies, in particular reliable gasification and clean-up at scale, is crucial in

allowing us to realise this “insurance”.

• Crucial gasification variants identified are

– Advanced biofuels (e.g. FT fuels)

– Biopower

– Heat (biomethane/bioSNG)

• Technology innovation needed to reduce cost and increase efficiency to support the

development of flexible bioenergy which can adapt to inherent uncertainties.

NNFCC

Opportunities

• Use of wastes

• Heat (direct biomass and biomethane)

• Transport, in particular advanced biofuels

• Electricity, primarily coal conversion to biomass but also CHP – longer

term, CCS becomes important (strong ETI interest in bioCCS).

• Longer term opportunities in bio-based chemical production

NNFCC

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

max reported max predicted min reported

PJ/y

ear

Bio

mas

s En

erg

y (f

oo

d w

aste

as

met

han

e)

Sugar Beet

UK OSR

UK and Imported Tallow

UK and Imported Waste CookingOil

UK Green Waste

UK Food Waste

Imported oils (all types)

UK Straw

Estimated UK Bioenergy/Biofuel Resources

© 2011 NNFCC

NNFCC

RO banding review – ROO 2013

• Recent response

– All gasification is emerging and all need help

– Unified ROC offering – 2 ROCs per renewable MWh

with degression

– No difference between (less risky) steam and engine

systems

– Syngas sampling?

– Bio content deemed at 50% or measure (C14)

• Should there be a drive in EMR to realise increased

efficiencies and deliver flexibility?

• Original half and two ROCs offering stalled developer interest

– Arup report

• NNFCC review of costs and performance

NNFCC

Survey represented about 800 MWe.

Most projects use steam; where power is produced using an engine or turbine, the

gasifiers are either downdraft or use plasma in some way

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Further innovation potential in gas clean-up to maximise

efficiencies and opportunities

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• Close coupled gasifiers emerging slightly more quickly for processing wastes – now

operating at low capacity

• There is interest in using downdraft gasifiers for generating power.

• Over the next 2 years gasifiers with steam cycles and gasifiers with plasma producing

power via an engine or IGCC, are expected to grow at similar rates.

• The use of non-plasma gasifiers to produce power via engines or gas turbines will

remain limited until enhanced gas cleaning technologies become available.

NNFCC

Gasification and heat - bioSNG

Purification to ensure bioSNG meets network

standards before injection

Gasification Syngas

cooling & cleaning

Purification

wood

water

Char combustion

air

(steam)

natural gas network

Methanation

tars

CH 4

CO 2 H 2 O H 2 O

heat

(steam) UK electrical grid

C0 2 H

Methanation at high pressure, with

removal of excess heat to generate power and steam

Dual gasifier with steam, and indirect heating

from char combustion. First plants plan to use only dried clean wood

feedstock

Syngas cleaning to remove tars and

other contaminants to the ppb level

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BioSNG – natural gas substitute produced by methanation

of biosyngas and “identical” to biomethane from AD

• The Bioenergy Strategy, Carbon Trust bioTINA, ETI and National Grid demonstrate

increasing interest in bioSNG

• RHI support for bioSNG injection into gas grid

• Three key developers; use of indirect gasifier is most ideal – limited development on

wastes

• At a tariff level of 4p/kWh, plus the projected wholesale UK gas price in 2020, the

sale price for bioSNG would be around 6.3p/kWh

– This would give plant NPV and IRRs of £38.8M / 9.3% and £159.8M / 16.7% for

the 30 and 100 MW cases

Plant size (MWbioSNG) 30 (15 MWe equiv.) 100 (50 MWe equiv.)

Capital costs (£m 2009) 46.0 100.4

Specific capex (£m / kWbioSNG) 1,500 1,000

Operating costs (£m/yr) 2.5 4.7

Feedstock costs (£m/yr) 4.0 21.8

Co-product revenues (£m/yr) 1.3 5.8

NNFCC

BioSNG production costs are higher than 2020

natural gas prices

• BioSNG production costs derived are between 4.8 and 5.2 p/kWh - much higher than

wholesale UK natural gas prices of 1.2 – 3.3 p/kWh

• Capital and feedstock costs dominate

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

Capex Feedstock cost

Staff Insurance Maintenance Other costs Electricity sales

Heat sales Total

Cu

mu

lati

ve b

ioSN

G p

rod

uct

ion

co

st (p

/kW

h)

30 MWbioSNG plant

• Increasing plant capacity from 30 to 100 MWbioSNG decreases the production cost slightly. Economies of scale are largely offset by the increase in the feedstock cost from more expensive imports

NNFCC

• Biomass gasification to produce bioSNG is only at the demonstration stage, with limited

experience in downstream fuel synthesis integration

• Three developers now active:

Developer Project Location Stage Size and start-up year

REPOTEC-CTU

BioSNG Güssing Austria Pilot 1 MWbioSNG unit built at the 8 MWth Güssing CHP plant in June 2009, as part of the EU Bio-SNG project. Previous 10kWbioSNG test-rig in 2003

Gazobois Eclépens

Switzerland Commercial 21.5 MWbioSNG plant starting in 2012

GoBiGas Gothenburg

Sweden Commercial

20 MWbioSNG in 2012 + 80 MWbioSNG in 2015/6 with Goteborg Energi & E.ON Possible 200MWbioSNG plant with E.ON after 2015

ECN ECN

Petten Netherlands

Pilot 25 kWth input test-rig started in 2004. 800kWth CHP pilot plant (no bioSNG) in 2008

Not yet determined

Demo Plans for a 50MWth plant in 2016, after demonstrating CHP plant at 10MWth with HVC

APP / Prog Eng

/ Nat Grid APP Swindon Pilot

Plans to convert existing APP pilot plant to produce bioSNG. 1st on waste. 2013-15

NNFCC

Biomass to Liquids

• Ineos Bio Process to produce ethanol via gasification is about to be

demonstrated at commercial scale in Florida; UK plant planned for

Teesside.

• This, UK plant along with the BA/Solena jet fuel plant, will leapfrog the

UK in a world leading position with respect to BTL.

NNFCC

Illustrative BA/Solena Jet Fuel Plant Schematic

BA in partnership with Solena plan to build a waste to jet fuel plant in London (2015)

Gas clean

ing /p

olish

ing

and

con

ditio

ning

Syngas cleaning & conditioning

Gasification Fischer Tropsch

Wax upgrading

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Coal conversion to biomass and co-firing

Metso are building a 140 MW fluidised bed wood gasifier

in Vaasa, Finland to co-fire syngas with coal

• €40 million

• 25-40% coal replacement

• Removes ash from combustion process

Biomass can be brought on line during planned

shutdown – commissioning due December 2012

• Power station still can operate on 100% coal if

necessary

NNFCC

© 2011 NNFCC

Summary

• Gasification of wastes to produce power is emerging most strongly

• Increasing interest in bioSNG in the UK

• Strongest interest in advanced biofuels from gasification currently from

aviation industry; lack of drive and policy from UK Government could be a

derailer.

NNFCC

Leadership Team