TBEC plans 3 more biogas projects a year in Asean
Thai Biogas Energy Co (TBEC) plans to expand its investment in the Asean region, launching an additional three biogas projects a year worth a total of about Bt400 million per annum. TBEC currently has seven projects in Thailand and Laos.
Gustaf Godenhielm, managing director of TBEC, said biogas was derived from wastewater released by factories and used to produce electricity, and to serve as an alternative to other types of fuel.
Each biogas project requires Bt100 million to Bt150 million, for a total of about Bt400 million a year. The company gained valuable experience and expertise from the seven biogas projects it has conducted in Thailand and Laos over the past 10 years in terms of safety standards and environmental preservation on a par with international standards.
On Tuesday, TBEC opened a biogas plant in Vientiane. The Bt130-million Lao-Indochina Group joint-venture project is backed by the European Development Finance Institutions and EEP (Energy and Environment Partnership Programme) Mekong. This project uses wastewater from tapioca-flour factories to produce 22,180 cubic metres of methane gas per day, which is the equivalent of 11,490 litres of kerosene.
TBEC adopts the build-own- operate-transfer (BOOT) method, under which it handles project development, design, investment, construction of both biogas and electricity facilities and distribution of carbon credits through the expiry of the projects’ 10-to-15-year BOOT time frame.
TBEC was established in September 2003 with Private Energy Market Fund LP (PEMF) as the shareholder. PEMF is an alternative-energy fund whose main investor is Finnfund, an alternative-energy fund of the Finnish government, and Al Tayyar Energy, a company that invests in and develops clean energy.
Projects undertaken by TBEC include:
lThe Kitroongruang project in Rayong province, which utilises wastewater from tapioca-flour factories to produce 15,000 cubic metres of biogas a day, which is then used to produce 1.4 megawatts of electricity.
lThe Jiratpattana project in Kalasin province, which utilises flour-factory wastewater to produce 30,000 cubic metres of biogas a day, which is then used to produce 2MW of electricity.
lThe Chao Khun Argo products project, which utilises wastewater from factories producing high-fructose syrup from cassava to produce 25,000 cubic metres of biogas per day and 1MW of electricity.
lThe Tha Chang project in Surat Thani province, which utilises wastewater from palm-oil factories and concentrated latex to produce 35,000 cubic metres of biogas a day and 2.8MW of electricity.
lThe Thai Nam tapioca project, which utilises wastewater from a tapioca-flour factory to produce 23,570 cubic metres of biogas a day, an alternative to 12,200 litres of kerosene a day.
lThe Universal Starch Project in Kalasin province, which uses wastewater of a tapioca-flour factory to produce 19,650 cubic metres of biogas a day, an alternative to 10,180 litres of kerosene a day.
