Through a power purchasing agreement, between 25% and 30% of the plant's electricity requirements will now be generated from renewable sources.
The BMW South Africa/Bio2Watt renewable energy partnership is the first commercially viable biogas project. The Bio2Watt biogas plant in Bronkhorstspruit is located on Beefcor's feedlot and an agricultural stronghold in Gauteng. The location provides the project with proximity to key fuel supplies - grid access and sufficient water supplied by Beefcor's storm water collection dams. The City of Tshwane is also a key supplier of waste to the project.
The biogas process relies on organic waste, which is directed into a digester where biogas is produced and then goes into a gas engine to produce electricity. This is inserted into the power grid for uptake by power purchasers like BMW.
At the Bronkhorstspruit biogas plant, about 40,000 tons per annum of cattle manure and a further 20,000 tons of mixed organic waste is fed into two anaerobic digesters that produce the biogas feedstock for a combined heat and power application.
Tim Abbott, MD of BMW South Africa, said there is a plan to transform the company's production facilities to be powered by 100% from renewable sources by the year 2020. "We have increased the share of renewable energy as a percentage of total power consumed by the BMW Group to an impressive 51% in 2014."
Abbott added that BMW aspired to be the most sustainable company in the automotive industry. "Sustainability is one of the main drivers of our business. We not only create added value for the environment and society, but also for the company itself - because sustainability management also cuts costs and generates revenues as well as profits. As the result of our efforts, we have been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the world's leading index of sustainable companies, every year since 1999 and been industry leader for eight years."
Converting organic waste into electrical energy primarily for digester heating purposes is a well proven technology, which has gained further traction worldwide as the swing to renewable energy alternatives gains momentum and becomes price competitive with organic forms of energy generation.
Sean Thomas, CEO of Bio2Watt, said that because this was a first of its kind in South Africa, there was a lot of scepticism from various stakeholders. "Having BMW as a partner on this project created credibility, which as a start-up company I wouldn't have had. We have kick-started an industry from waste and have created a precedent in South Africa to show that it actually can be done.
Thomas added that biogas production offers a sustainable solution for the disposal of organic waste while offering large power users the ability to diversify their energy supply and reduce their carbon footprint by purchasing power from a green energy source at increasingly competitive rates.
"Biogas is a storable form of renewable energy, capable of being transported and utilised 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For this reason, biogas is capable of providing energy on a small-scale but can be expanded to large-scale, centralised production."
The Bio2Watt plant in Bronkhorstpruit has the capacity to generate 4.4MW. Bio2Watt is establishing more anaerobic digestion projects in South Africa. Construction of the second project will begin in Malmesbury, Western Cape, in 2016.
