Proposition for a national action plan for development and demonstration within solid biofuel CHP

Danish-based biomass CHP suppliers have great expectations for the future market development and experience already a large demand for efficient and reliable technology. And rightly so, the market is huge and demands solutions in all the areas in which Danish-based suppliers are involved. This applies especially to EU countries with attractive framework conditions, but with the new renewable energy action plans and Denmark's own vision of becoming free of fossil fuels the future is bright. Also, substantial growth potentials are visible in other countries, including in North America. Danish-based technology suppliers have a robust economy and several are owned by large international companies. They offer unique technological solutions in several areas - from small to large plants - to satisfy the growing demand to produce environemntally friendly electricity from solid biomass such as straw and wood, etc. Although Danish-based cogeneration technologies for solid biofuels are advanced compared to the competitors in many areas there is a large need to continuously improve the technology by sustained development and demonstration activities. The aim is to overcome the technological barriers that this project has identified and thus maintain competitiveness. The industry currently has very strong focus on market deployment of especially technolgies for cogeneration in small scale (up to 15 MW thermal power) and on the overall economy of these plants. Reference installations that display meany operational hours with a reasonable economy are crucial for investors. Currently, no companies market commercial plants that have sufficiently low costs to operate under Danish conditions and few do for the conditions found internationally. Thus, from the industry perspective there is still a need for development and demonstration of CHP technology below 15 MW thermal. The analysis does not exclude any technology tracks, but the development demonstration efforts should lead to improvements in conditions such as availability, efficiencies and operating and maintenance costs. An upcoming RD&D strategy for thermal biomass gasification could help identify spcifically attractive technology tracks. Also technologies for large plants and systems need to be improved with respect to availability and efficiency and reduced operating and maintenance sosts. For all technologies, there is a need to develop the use of special solid biofuels that on the one hand may have troublesome characteristics but on the other hand may help lower operating costs. In brief, the largest demand for development and demonstration of Danish-based cogeneration technology for solid biomass can be outlined in the following three fields: 1. Demonstration of small and medium scale power producing biomass technologies; 2. Development activities that improve reliability, efficiency and operating economy; 3. Exchange of experience, technical troubleshooting, testing and demonstration of special solid biofuels. The Danish-based companies have good opportunities to find support for the development and demonstration effort. A number of support programs and pools are in place and ready to receive project applications. Further there is basis for a fruitful cooperation with relevant research institutions in universities and entire network of the Danish Advanced Technology Group companies. The challenge is primarily to find and design the cooperation and its focus. With only 9-10 years to go before the goals in the European renewable energy action plans are to be met, there is no time to lose.