Beyond energy crops and subsidised electricity - A study on sustainable biogas production and utilisation in advanced energy markets

The aim of this study is to investigate the operation of biogas plants in advanced energy markets after energy crops become limited in their use and biogas plants exit subsidy schemes for electricity production. Continuous biogas combined heat and power production and sale of electricity on the dayahead market could be a viable operation strategy only in the case of low-cost substrates. When the break-even cost of electricity production in biogas power plants reaches 100 (sic)/MWh(el), selling electricity on the day-ahead market does not create profit. The study shown that a more profitable operation strategy involves coupling biogas power plant operation on the electricity balancing market with biomethane production or combining a small-scale sugar beet processing facility with a biogas upgrading plant to cover heat demand for sugar beet processing. Techno-economic analysis showed that the viability of both alternative operation strategies is severely impacted by the selling price of biomethane. In the given market conditions, a selling price of biomethane below 50 (sic)/MWh is not viable for a biogas plant. The model developed could be used as a guideline for biogas plant operators on how to proceed after significant changes appear in both biogas production and biogas utilisation. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.