Latvian egg producer opens biomethane plant

Balticovo, Northern Europe's largest producer of eggs and egg products, opened a biomethane plant in Iecava, Latvia last month.
The plant, which is named BOVO GAS, is unique because biomethane is fed into an interconnected gas system and the amount produced in it is sufficient to fully supply the entire county of Bauska, according to the company.
The organisation, which invested €7 million into the facility has more than three million chickens in its flock, which leave behind a large amount of manure - about 80,000 tons.
Since the company's goal is to take care of the efficient use of energy resources, Balticovo uses the byproducts created by the birds themselves as a raw material for the production of biomethane.
The biogas formation process begins with the transportation of chicken manure from Balticovo's barns to the biogas station, where the fermentation process takes place.
The produced biogas is transported through the pipeline to the new BOVO GAS factory, where it is purified to biomethane, and fed into the general network of AS Gaso.
An opening ceremony was held, attended by the Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze (ZZS), Minister of Climate and Energy Kaspars Melnis (ZZS), Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Economy Jurgis Miezainis, Chairman of the Board of Balticovo Vladimirs Mhitaryans and member of the Board Toms Auškāp.
Kaspars Melnis said: "Technology is advancing rapidly - if someone told me 10 years ago that 3.5 million chickens would take care of the country's energy independence, it would be hard to believe. But that's the reality today and it's great that the former burden of production is being turned into biogas and agricultural fertiliser!
"The amount of biomethane produced is enough to connect the production plant to the common gas supply infrastructure, and a good impulse to show the industry - we can do it! And we can do this right here in Latvia.
"The contribution is great - not only energy security and stability, but also smart and full use of resources. The added value - jobs and everything that remains to develop here - is a huge plus. We are proud to have companies that have ambitions and are not afraid to realise their ambitions.
"I hope that in the future there will be more such projects, even greater ambitions and dreams that we are not afraid to implement."