From the early stages of the project the analysis of the biogas landscape in the targeted countries, revealed a different maturity in biogas readiness level, ranging from mature (Germany), to intermediate (UK) and preliminary (Greece). Moreover, in each country, the level of interest, commitment and motivation of the key actors in each community differed, while several ‘external’ factors (e.g. national legislation, financial situation of the region and/or the country, etc.) affected the impact of ISABEL’s support activities. Overall:
- The key priority in Germany is not to install new biogas facilities, but mainly to come up with strategies to conserve the already installed ones after the ending of the renewable energy funding. In the framework of ISABEL, several alternatives were investigated and discussed focusing on the application of new business models with the involvement of local actors. Indicatively, in one of the cases supported by ISABEL, i.e. the Bräunlingen region (Black Forest), where there is already a biogas plant, the aim is to continue its operation with a higher utilisation of residual materials in close collaboration with local farmers, the municipality and the municipal utilities, as well as external experts. The biogas plant was extended within the ISABEL implementation (‘flexibilization’) and the heat utilisation was secured by the grid expansion of a nearby industrial area.
- The key priority in the UK is to increase the number of biogas plants at regional level. ISABEL triggered and supported the operation of one AD unit in the UK (by Positive Activities on the perimeter of Grimsby -“Eco Conservation Centre”), while plans are currently active for installing several other small scale plants.
- The concept of community energy is extremely recent in Greece. There is lack of awareness among the local actors of the possibilities of utilizing organic waste for energy production. At the same time, recent respective legislation (i.e. entered into force in January 2018) introducing the concept of Energy Communities is not fully applied as the necessary implementation directives are still under development. However, some highly motivated and committed energy communities supported by the ISABEL partners, after completing the respective preparatory feasibility studies, are already in the process of searching for funding to initiate the process for constructing a biogas plant.
Finally, close collaboration with the Southern Africa Biogas Association and the Development Agency of the 55 countries of the African Union was established in order to transfer the experience gained regarding the challenges and opportunities for setting up biogas community energy initiatives.
