Irish waste-to-energy business BHSL has agreed a new €1.5m deal to sell its technology in France.
BHSL is to sell its fluidised bed combustion (FBC) technology to Liger Bioconcept, a new joint venture between bio-energy company Liger, algae specialist and fertiliser manufacturer Olmix and pig processor Jean Floch.
The 1.4 megawatt thermal plant at a fertiliser plant in Brittany, will burn digestate (or by-product) sourced from a large anaerobic digestor located nearby, that processes a mixture of food waste, animal manure and waste water sludge into biogas.
It will produce heat to help power the fertiliser plant, and an ash with high phosphorus and potassium content that can be used to make fertiliser pellets.
BHSL said the deal opens the door to a new market for its FBC technology, which was originally developed to convert poultry manure into energy.
There are currently 500 anaerobic digester facilities in France and 8,000 in Germany, two of BHSL-Hydro’s target markets.
The company said it has 14 deal opportunities in its pipeline.
There are plans to construct 300 new anaerobic digestor plants in Ireland as part of the Government’s renewable energy strategy, helping avoid damaging greenhouse gas emissions from the methane in agricultural slurry by converting it into biogas that can be used for power generation.
Denis Brosnan, executive chairman of BHSL, today’s agreement is the first of what the company hopes will be the first of many deals to use its technology in what is a huge potential target market.
“We are in active discussions around several further opportunities, and the installed base of anaerobic digesters is forecast to grow considerably.
“As regulatory standards continue to increase, BHSL stands to benefit as businesses look to manage their waste and emissions to create valuable energy whilst also meeting their environmental responsibilities,” Mr Brosnan said.