Kick-off for local heat distribution grid in Flechtingen
Biogas helps customers cut their heating bills by 30 percent
Hamburg/Flechtingen, 6 August 2010 – 144 households, the local school and kindergarten as well as a private rehabilitation clinic in Flechtingen, Saxony-Anhalt, will be supplied with environmentally friendly heating energy already this winter. The heat will come from the nearby biogas plant of Biogas Produktion Flechtingen GmbH, a subsidiary of agricultural company KTG Agrar AG. In the coming months, a 1.3 km 3 megawatts (MW) local heat distribution grid will be built to transport the heat to the city. The project was officially kicked off on Wednesday by the Mayor of Flechtingen, Dr. Dieter Schwarz: “Strengthening the regional energy supply is an important step for our community. We reduce our dependence on imports, create secure jobs and make a contribution to climate protection and CO2 reduction as we use no fossil fuels.” In addition, the customers connected to the local heat grid will benefit from significant savings. The price per kilowatt hour will be about 30 percent lower than that of gas or oil and be guaranteed for five years.
The biogas plant in Flechtingen was taken into service by KTG Agrar at the end of 2009. Via a 5 km micro gas grid, the biogas powers four modern combined heat-and-power plants with an electrical output of 3.2. The electricity generated is fed into the public grid. Now the heat will also be used efficiently. “We are very happy that we can realise this innovative project together with the city of Flechtingen,” said Dr. Thomas Berger, KTG Agrar Board member in charge of the biogas operations. “It is an excellent example of how a region can be taken forward if the local community and the corporate sector work hand in hand. The plant is a prestige project. In Germany there is not other plant with a micro gas grid of such size and a perfect symbiosis with the local community, a climatic health resort, whose requirements we took fully into account.”
KTG Agrar currently operates biogas plants with a combined output of approx. 11 MW at five sites. This is sufficient to cover the energy requirements of some 20,000 households. KTG Agrar’s biogas production is based on an integrated concept. The input materials are grown in the immediate vicinity of the plants. Besides energy maize, the company uses grass and straw as input materials, with intercrops also gaining importance. Millet, for instance, is sown after the summer grain harvest and harvested in November. In a few years’ time already, the company intends to use almost exclusively grass and intercrops as input materials for the production of biogas. Says Dr. Thomas Berger: “This will also put an end to the food or fuel debate. Sustainable concepts allow us to achieve both, while at the same time increasing our value added.”
About KTG Agrar:
With cultivable land of more than 30,000 hectares, KTG Agrar AG is one of the leading producers of agricultural commodities in Europe. The Hamburg-based company’s core area of expertise is the organic and traditional cultivation of market products such as cereals, maize and rapeseed. For organic market products KTG Agrar is the european market leader. The company mainly produces in Germany but has also operated production in the EU full member state of Lithuania since 2005. The third mainstay the production of bioenergy. At present, KTG Agrar operates biogas plants with a total capacity of around eleven megawatts. In the year 2009, KTG achieved a total output of EUR 59,7 million and EBIT of EUR 9.2 million. Since November 2007 the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and currently mote than 200 employees. Further information can be found at www.ktg.ag.
Contact:
Investor Relations / Press
Fabian Lorenz
IR.on AG
Tel: +49 221 914097 - 6
E-Mail: fabian.lorenz@ir-on.com