By 2015, biomass is to become the Czech Republic‘s primary source of renewable energy.

Accordingly, there is a high demand for biogas plants among investors and operators, especially from manufacturers who have international experience and an extensive service network.

With its 10-year history, Vechta-based WELTEC BIOPOWER GmbH is an experienced German biogas plant manufacturer. This summer, it established its fifth plant in the Czech Republic. The construction of the agricultural biogas plant in Příložany in the southern part of the country was completed in four months.

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After casting the concrete floor slabs in March, the construction of the 2,500 cubic metres stainless steel fermenter, the combined heat and power generation plant (CHP), and the 35 cubic metres vertical dosing feeder started in the same month. The setup of the biogas plant equipment was finished in May. The gas started flowing through the pipes in early May, and the final approval of the test operation was granted in June.

The WELTEC biogas plant has a biogas emergency flare and operates without a hygienisation unit and separation unit. In the CHP, a CHP-Unit with 366 kW output produces the electricity that is fed into the grid. The plant‘s energy efficiency is high, because the generated heat is used in the facilities and stables. The plant is fed with substrates and manure of the operator and farms in the vicinity: pig manure, grass silage, maize silage, crop silage, and grain waste.

The EU and the Czech government provide special incentives for biogas plant projects in the Czech Republic. One of the main reasons is that the carbon dioxide emissions per capita are rather high compared to other countries. Czech farmers receive financial support for the establishment of biogas plants fro-m an EU environmental fund and an EU rural development fund.

Since 2005, the feed-in law for decentralised eco-power has resulted in an increase in the energy production from regenerative sources. In 2010, a share of about 10 percent of the energy was already produced from alternative sources, compared to only 4 percent in 2008.