WELTEC BIOPOWER has extended the successful cooperation with its service partner, Gordons Technical Service Ltd (GTS) from Northern Ireland, until the end of 2026. The German biogas plant manufacturer‘s cooperation with GTS has been in place since 2017 and applies to WELTEC customers from Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Both companies have many years of experience in the region. WELTEC BIOPOWER had built one of the first biogas plants in England in 2006 and is one of the pioneers of biogas plant construction there.
GTS Managing Director Trevor Gordon also has expertise in the field and has, for example, been successfully responsible for servicing WELTEC‘s Ballyrashane Creamery plant. The plant processes dairy waste, energy crops and cattle slurry. Since Irish dairy cooperative Lakeland Dairies acquired Ballyrashane in 2019, GTS has been involved significantly in repairs, new installations and commissioning upgrades to increase the plant‘s performance. „The support of Trevor and the GTS team is very important to us – especially their assistance with continuous improvements,“ emphasizes Ballyrashane Creamery‘s Environmental Manager, David Hughes. GTS offers a wide range of services, from fixing minor breakdowns of stuck valves to replacing roofs, mixers, and servicing the MULTIMix liquid input system. In addition, there are regular maintenance and remote monitoring services. This also includes necessary modifications to the plant control system, which are carried out on site together with WELTEC specialists. Ultimately, the service ensures efficient operation for a high energy yield.
We value enormously at GTS that the team can be at any WELTEC plant in the region within twelve hours if necessary,“ says the service manager at WELTEC BIOPOWER, Rüdiger Ötken. Another success factor is the stable biological digestion process. The operators of WELTEC plants in the UK and Ireland, are in direct contact with the biology team in Vechta for this purpose. The service includes monthly process monitoring and regular laboratory analyses of the biological parameters as well as individual troubleshooting. For this purpose, digester samples have to be examined and assessed by the biological service. This enables economical operation. In addition, the optimization of the substrate mix through the assessment of feed materials and feed changes – even during the planning phase of a plant. The service package is rounded off by fermentation tests when new substrates are used, the preparation of biological start-up plans during commissioning, and biological training on the plants. Also on the basis of these services, WELTEC BIOPOWER has succeeded in helping to build up the biogas industry in the UK and Ireland. Because only with the help of a technically well-engineered and biologically stable production process, operating costs are reduced and the profitability of biogas production is secured.
Company Portrait
The WELTEC Group from Vechta, Germany, has developed into a globally leading specialist for the construction and operation of biogas and biomethane plants since it was founded back in 2001. The Group designs, plans and sets up energy plants, operates them on a permanent or temporary basis, provides 24/7 service and delivers sustainable usage concepts for output flows, thereby covering the entire biogas value chain.
The establishment of individual, technically mature solutions up to a plant size of 10 MW is one of the strengths of WELTEC BIOPOWER. The high proportion of custom-developed components is a key success factor. Moreover, the use of stainless-steel technologies ensures flexible substrate input, quick and inexpensive assembly and a consistently high quality standard, regardless of the location. Following the commissioning, WELTEC‘s mechanical and biological service plays a significant role in ensuring the plant efficiency.
The company also boasts a wealth of experience in the field of biogas generation and utilisation. The company‘s nine decentralised plants generate 96 million standard m³ of biogas a year. A portion is processed to biomethane and made available to energy suppliers and petrol station operators via the public gas network. Additionally, at 16 locations in Germany– e.g. in the field of horticulture, housing construction and healthcare as well as communities – the biomethane is used for generating heat within the framework of WELTEC energy contracting.
The biogas specialist is well aware of the importance of customer and investor proximity. Accordingly, the Group‘s sales and service network spans the entire globe. The range of customers includes businesses from industries such as agriculture, food, waste and wastewater. So far, the 120 employees of the WELTEC Group have implemented more than 350 energy plants in 25 countries on five continents. All in all, the biogas specialist ensures annual savings of around 530,000 tons of CO2eq.
