PKN Orlen intends to be the leader in the biogas market. The company is planning to use it as a substitute for natural gas and as a bio-component, which will help the company to achieve the National Indicative Target (NCW) – the minimum share of renewable fuels and bio-components in fuels and biofuels used in all types of transport.
“The potential of biogas production in Poland amounts to several billion cubic metres annually. Orlen is planning to take the leading position in this market. This is one of our key directions in the strategy. We have very large needs related to the obligation to use biomethane for the implementation of the NCW in fuels”, said Grzegorz Jóźwiak, the director of the office of alternative fuels implementation at PKN Orlen.
The director stresses that considering Poland’s incredibly large potential in terms of biogas and ultimately biomethane production, Orlen is able to change the demand for natural gas in Poland in a very significant way.
“This is the direction we are interested in. We see biomethane more as a substitute for natural gas than as a raw material for electricity production in biogas plants. A very interesting direction is the conversion of biogas, and biomethane into biohydrogen. If there is no possibility of connecting biomethane to the gas network, such a solution is extremely interesting”, said Jóźwiak.
Orlen also wants to produce hydrogen from municipal waste, which the company treats as a raw material rather than a problem and has projects that may allow it to be processed.
“Firstly, we want to recover hydrocarbons and in the second stage we intend to process the residues into hydrogen using the energy and molecular composition of waste”, said the director, adding that it requires contracting this raw material from various sources and the company is considering cooperation with cities and municipal waste processing companies.
“We are already at the stage of talks. One of the examples is Płock, where we are in talks with the city hall and the municipal waste processing company and have already signed a letter of intent regarding the implementation of this technology”, emphasized Grzegorz Jóźwiak.
In January, PKN Orlen announced that its Orlen Południe company had taken over three agricultural biogas plants, in which biomethane will be produced from agricultural substrates, waste and residues from processing, and used in industry or the energy sector.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński order