Swedish Biogas Starts Construction Of New Biogas Plant In Flint City, Michigan, US

Published: 14-Sep-2009

Swedish Biogas International AB (Swedish Biogas) has started the construction of a new biogas plant in the City of Flint, Michigan, US in August 2009, mlive.com reported. Ground breaking of the plant took place a year ago. The $8-million- to $10-million plant will be built on city's wastewater treatment plant. The project is expected to be operational by next fall. Human waste treated at the wastewater treatment plant will be used to create biogas.

The biogas plant is a partnership between Linkoping, Sweden-based SBI, the city of Flint, state of Michigan and Kettering University.

City workers are removing pumps and pipes and are repairing a sludge storage tank at the plant site.

"We're on schedule, but this is sort of all the preparatory work to get going," Swedish Biogas Chief Executive Officer Tom Guise said, adding a tank outside the wastewater treatment plant will be taken down late this month or in October 2009 and major construction will begin in early 2010.

The city and SBI signed a 21-year contract and will divide savings and revenue half-half.

Flint will save money estimated at least $3.5 million within seven years from this biogas power plant.

Guise said tha he expected more than $1 million in equipment will be ordered for the biogas plant and laborers such as mechanical and electrical contractors will be needed.

"Beginning of the year, we'll be sending out the bid packages to subcontractors," Guise said.

The project may be upgrade into biomethane to fuel vehicles and Kettering University researchers will use about $1 million of project funding in part to hopefully increase the quality of biomethane, Kettering officials said.

"We're under way now," said Kettering University Associate Provost Tony Hain. "We're buying equipment."

Hain said that Kettering University Professor Ahmad Pourmovahed recently was selected as principal investigator on the SBI project and that Lecturer Brenda Lemke and Professor Jennifer L Aurandt were also involved in the research.

"A big part of this is conversion of existing cars and trucks for dual fuel use," Hain said, adding city busses could follow to run on biomethane.

A small digester, or enclosed tank that produces the biogas, also is being built in a 55-gallon drum to help test equipment test the composition of biogas produced, Guise and Pourmovahed said.

"We want to use that with biogas as a fuel to produce electricity," Pourmovahed said.

Kettering University will be providing co-op jobs to students and the Flint city may hire one or two co-op students to work at the plant, said Hain, who added the project is an exciting opportunity for the Flint and Kettering University.

"It could be the rebuilding of industry here in Flint, at least make a good dent into it," Hain said.

"They attend all of our meetings, they do some research, they make presentations," Pourmovahed said. "They will be involved in every aspect of this process. Every term we are planning on hiring four undergraduate students to work with us."

SBI expects the plant to take 20,000 hours for construction, so 15 to 20 people could be working at the site at any given time over a year.

SBI officials have said tha if Flint's plant is a success, then more people may be hired by SBI and that there was potential for more jobs to be created through spin-off businesses such as vehicle conversion shops.

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