Interview: Norman Nitzer
On January 1, 2012, the new German Renewable Energy Law will come into force. The biogas companies in Germany commented these amendmends with different opinions. What do you - as Sales Manager of UTS - think of the changes?
Basically I see these changes positively. UTS will definitely use the chance of meeting new requirements for large scale gas-into-grid projects as well as smaller projects, e.g. 75 kW slurry plants. Furthermore, this is a great way to show our customers how flexible our products and solutions are.
Better incentives for small biogas plants and higher feed-in tariffs for waste plants - how is UTS going to react on these changes?
We are currently developing a concept for 75 kW plants and are going to present it at this years´ Agritechnica 2011 in Hanover, Germany. Since we are represented all over Germany and Europe with service staff and production facilities, UTS is well prepared for the new market demands. In addition we are not only focusing on the German market but also on new markets like Central Eastern Europe.
Does UTS also have concepts on hand for large scale and gas-to-grid plants since those type of plants will receive higher feed-in-tariffs in the future?
Of course. During the past few years, UTS has built and commissioned several large scale plants with over 1 MW in Germany and Europe. We do have well-developed concepts on hand being constantly further developed and worked on. Currently our team is optimizing interfaces with various gas upgrading technologies. UTS will not tie itself down to one special technology, but will critically examine the available systems - as shown with our own pilot project in North America.
When looking at the biogas market in Europe - would you say that other countries, like Italy or Great Britain, look at Germany as a role model with its Renewable Energy Law?
Open-minded countries like Italy and Great Britain will for sure follow the developments of the German Renewable Energy Law with quite some interest. The current feed-in-tariffs in Italy will be cut from 2013 onwards and Great Britain might possibly also switch to higher subsidies for larger plants - similar to the German Renewable Energy Law 2012. UTS is represented very well in both countries and already has a strong position in the local biogas market.
Which future opportunities or risks would you personally name with regards to the German biogas market?
Energy providing companies will increase rather than decrease their investments in renewable energies - this could be a great chance for us. On the contrary the agricultural biogas market especially is going to decrease within the next two years. UTS is, however, well prepared for both developments and is looking forward to a successful 2012.
