The region of Cinco Villas will have two new biomethane plants to transform livestock and agricultural waste. These projects, located in Ejea de los Caballeros and Tauste, are currently in the public information phase to prepare their environmental impact studies.
These plants will employ anaerobic digestion, a natural method that breaks down organic matter in closed tanks to generate biomethane. The developers point out that the complexes will have advanced technologies to mitigate noise and odors, channeling process air into high-efficiency biofilters. Between them they will process more than 650,000 tons of waste per year.
THE EJEA PLANT WILL PROCESS 400,000 TONS
The Ejea de los Caballeros plant, promoted by Cinco Villas Green Gass, will be built on plot P-6 of the ECO2 Facemón Industrial Estate, 3.6 kilometres south of the town centre. The facility will treat 400,000 tonnes per year of faecal waste from livestock, sludge and agricultural remains, converting them into 111 GWh of biomethane per year to be injected into the Redexis network.
The supply of organic matter will mainly come from farms located at an average distance of 10 kilometers, which, according to the company, will reduce the impact of transport on the environment. In addition, water from the industrial estate network will initially be used, with internal recirculation planned for the future to reduce the demand for water resources.
In order to avoid odours, the discharge of waste will be carried out exclusively in closed warehouses with constant negative pressure and biofilters, as reflected in the project documentation, where it is argued that the project will avoid emitting 51,848 tonnes of CO₂ per year.
THE TAUSTE PLANT WILL ALSO PRODUCE FERTILIZER
The Tauste plant, run by Biorig, will be located southwest of the municipality on an area of 106,708 square metres. The complex will process some 260,000 tons of organic waste per year (manure, poultry manure, slurry and cereal straw) contributed by the local agricultural sector.
According to the study, more than 15.6 million Nm³ of biomethane injected into the natural gas network and 262,254 tonnes of organic CFP 3 fertiliser per year will be obtained from this treatment volume.
The developer highlights the «Zero Discharge» model, which thanks to separative networks and a 974 m³ rainwater tank will recirculate water in the industrial process to avoid external discharges. The consumption of 10,262.25 m³/year of water is expected, obtained from the collection of rainwater and the supply of drinking water for offices and changing rooms.
