Weltec Biopower unveils biomethane plant to empower beef producers

Weltec Biopower, a German manufacturer, is currently constructing a biomethane plant for the Elivia Group in partnership with its French partner, Agripower France.

Le Lion-d’Angers, in the Pays de la Loire area of western France, is home to the headquarters of France’s second-largest cattle producer. The plant will inject biomethane into the public gas grid at this site in November 2025, next to the company’s own abattoir.

One of Elivia’s goals is to significantly reduce its carbon emissions. With this investment of approximately €6 million, the French industrial and commercial company, which has a workforce of 2,700 and an annual sales volume of 152,000 tonnes of meat, highlights the importance of green energy sources.

In France, biomethane plays an increasingly important role in decarbonising the energy sector. By 2030, the share of biomethane in energy production is set to double. At present, about 670 plants feed 11 TWh of biomethane into the gas grid.

Currently, it is being considered whether to raise the biomethane production target from 22 TWh to 44 TWh by 2030. Long-standing partners Weltec Biopower and Agripower are ready to support this goal. Over the past 13 years, the cooperation has already yielded the successful rollout of 25 biogas projects.

In Lion-d’Angers, biogas is produced from a mixture of slaughterhouse waste, fats and sludge from the sewage treatment plant and animal by-products. The processing capacity of the slaughterhouse substrates thus totals 85 tonnes of raw material a day. This corresponds to an annual volume of approximately 26,000 tonnes.

The raw materials are first hygienised using waste heat from the slaughterhouse. In total, about 2,500,000 standard m³ of biogas are converted into 1,700,000 standard m³ of processed biomethane, which Elivia feeds into the grid every year. This is enough for the yearly heat supply of about 1,600 households.

Prior to the digestion, the materials are stored in a storage tank, which is supplied by Weltec Biopower along with two pump stations in the container and the stainless steel digesters. In the two stainless steel tanks – each 26.87 m in diameter, 8.80 m high and with a capacity of 4,991 m³ – the agitators then ensure a homogeneous substrate mix for the biogas process. The digestate is used as high-quality agricultural fertiliser. The biogas produced is refined into biomethane using membrane gas processing.

The German manufacturer uses its web-based control software Weltec Control to ensure smooth synchronisation of the plant. Using this tool, Elivia users can easily access relevant process data. All users can monitor and control the plant intuitively and from any location.