VIDEO | Biomethane with wet waste:28 million plant in Spilamberto

Green momentum from Hera and Inalca, which gives new life to the old digester

BOLOGNA – In the 'belly' of the machinery arrives the organic waste of families and the wastewater from the agri-food industries, from the ham factories downwards. All the waste, instead of being disposed of, is recovered on site through a biological process, using bacteria:the result is the production of a purified biogas, effectively methane. The latter is networked and used for transport or reused in agriculture, in the name of “a truly virtuous cycle”. It is the essence of super biomethane production plant made by newco Biorg, born from the partnership between Herambiente (Hera group), the first national operator in the sector, and the Inalca company (Cremonini group), leader in Italy in the production of meat.The ribbon cutting took place this morning at Spilamberto, in the province of Modena, to seal a total investment of 28 million euros, for a plant which, when fully operational, will produce every year 3.7 million cubic meters of 100% renewable biomethane fuel for automotive use, and 18,000 tons of compost.The annual production of the Spilamberto plant, equal to 3.7 million cubic meters of biomethane, is essentially equivalent to 52 million kilometers traveled by a car powered by methane.

Present at the inauguration were the vice-president of the Region with responsibility for the Environment, Irene Priolo, the mayor of Spilamberto Umberto Costantini, the president and CEO of Biorg, Giovanni Sorlini and Paolo Cecchin, the CEO of the Hera group Orazio Iacono and the CEO of Inalca Paolo Boni. Before the current digester, a similar plant had stood in the area in question for years, almost abandoned, and therefore the leap in quality is evident, with zero balance in land consumption.“Now let's move on to the facts, let's go from waste to wealth:the waste found under our dining room becomes the same gas we use when we cook.
The circular economy in Spilamberto is a reality", exults Mayor Costantini (remembering that his is already "the best Municipality" managed by Hera from the point of view of separate waste collection).

Thanks to the introduction of biomethane into the network and its use for transport, the technicians estimate today during an inspection of the plant, every year with the new Hera-Inalca machinery the use of 3,000 tonnes of oil will be saved equivalent of fossil fuel and 7,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided (on average 280,000 trees would be needed to absorb a similar quantity of carbon dioxide). The waste coming out of the anaerobic digestion process, the solid digestate, instead of being disposed of is therefore further recovered “thanks to the delivery to the Biorg composting plant in Nonantola, a few kilometers away, to produce compost that can be used as a biofertilizer in agriculture”, explains Cecchin in particular.

Priolo points out at a regional level:“This one in Spilamberto is the fifth plant that we have authorized in Emilia-Romagna for the production of biomethane.We are a self-sufficient region, for plant engineering, in the management of this fraction of waste, which also allows us to achieve the objectives of the air quality plan, given that methane improves the impact of circulating vehicles".For Hera, in any case, these are not new experiences.For example, the utility was in fact the first in Italy to have built a cutting-edge plant for the production of biomethane from the organic fraction of separate waste collection as early as 2018, in Sant'Agata Bolognese.

The capacity of the Spilamberto plant will determine, when fully operational, a 48% increase in the biomethane produced by the multiutility compared to the 2022 final figure (equal to the 7.7 million cubic meters produced in Sant'Agata Bolognese alone).At group level, the goal is to bring the production of biomethane to 30 million cubic meters per year by 2030.This was highlighted by Orazio Iacono, CEO of Hera, on the sidelines of the Modena event:“The challenges of the future require utilities like ours - Iacono remarks - an increasingly decisive commitment, which we intend to translate into concrete projects through investments.We must proceed without hesitation by transparently addressing the challenges posed by climate change and energy security, which are the crucial issues underlying our multi-business strategies.For this reason, in our industrial plan we have also provided a menu of solutions for the promotion of renewable sources, energy efficiency, the circular economy and infrastructure innovation".And he assures, returning to Spilamberto, Paolo Boni, CEO of Inalca:“The new plant allows full valorisation of the processing waste from our production activities and a further step forward in the circular economy processes.Furthermore, an effective industrial synergy is achieved, with the production of biomethane and composting in two perfectly complementary plants, demonstrating that by effectively combining innovation and integration processes we can increase the level of sustainability and reduce environmental impacts, while at the same time creating more value for the livestock supply chain", developing biofertilizers.