With no fewer than 34 affiliated livestock farms, the Groen Gas De Wolden cooperative can eventually switch 8,000 homes off fossil gas. This means that a large part of the assignment for the municipality of De Wolden can be completed, but there is still a financial hurdle to overcome for the construction of a gas upgrading installation.
The cooperative has asked the municipality, the province of Drenthe and grid operator Rendo to provide a subordinated loan of approximately 1.4 million euros each. The affiliated companies also account for such a share. “The entire project costs between 12 and 14 million euros and banks do not want to finance 100 percent,” says Klaas Tijmens on behalf of the cooperative. “We are not asking for a subsidy, but a loan with a repayment term of 12 years and a market interest rate,” the spokesperson emphasizes.
The green gas project is of great importance to the municipality of De Wolden, because it wants to make gas consumption completely sustainable by 2030, with 2025 as the first benchmark. The province of Drenthe, which has previously made subsidies available, and Rendo are also very concerned that this project is realized. Partly for this reason, the participants are positive about the success of the company.
Alderman Gerrie Hempen has now scheduled an appointment with everyone involved to arrange the loan. Years ago, a loan was also taken out for the Fiber Optic De Wolden project to start the construction.
Liquidity forecasts
Many hurdles have been overcome in recent years. All participating companies have invested in the permits and SDE applications. The liquidity forecasts and the multi-year budget paint a positive picture. There is one more stumbling block. “Banks are willing to finance 60 percent, which means we have to find the rest elsewhere. That is why three requests have been made and we are also participating,” Tijmens explains.
The active livestock farmer points out that there are more positive aspects to the entire project than just the supply of first 2.5 million cubic meters and later even 4 million cubic meters of green gas in the existing pipeline network that now belongs to Rendo. “The nitrogen reduction at stable level is approximately 30,000 kilograms after start-up. Further on, if more companies join, up to 50,000 within the Ruinerwold, Echten and Koekange area. Realization of Green Gas De Wolden can provide an expected reduction in CO2 of more than 13,000 tons after start-up and 20,000 tons later in the project.” The farmer smiles and reports that 20,000 tons of CO2 is equivalent to the reduction of 20,000 solar panels.
Closing cycle
The production of green gas through manure fermentation on the farms themselves also means that the manure is also suitable for using so-called nitrogen crackers in the future. “In this way, the current use of fertilizer in the area can be replaced by using nitrogen concentrate produced from our own manure. This is a huge step towards an even more closed cycle on the farms without the use of artificial fertilizer.” Tijmens further outlines that the leaching of manure into surface and groundwater is greatly improved.
According to the livestock farmer from Koekange, there is also an economic aspect. “It is important for the local economy. You prevent a lot of money from flowing abroad when large companies make off with it. A number of larger farmers with 200 or more cows have already been approached by third parties to supply for the production of liquefied gas. If those few large farmers have to wait too long, there is a chance that they will join forces with others and that the financial profit will disappear to the Randstad or even abroad. It would be disastrous for the cooperative.” This concerns several million who can remain in the area on an annual basis. “In our opinion, this is still a seriously underexposed point in the provincial and national government.”