Milk-fired power plants on the horizon

London, 28 June: Small power stations could soon burn milk instead of polluting fossil fuels such as coal and gas.

Kurt Alen, chief executive of Belgian sustainable energy generator Thenergo, said that dried milk could be used alongside other agricultural products and waste material in power plants that generate 1-20MW of electricity.

"We have been in talks with two milk producers about possible projects," he told Environmental Finance at a meeting in London yesterday, but declined to name the companies involved.

"Milk prices are increasing for various reasons – I think one minor reason is because of demand for sustainable energy production," Alen said, noting that there had been reports in Belgium that milk prices are expected to rise 20-50% this year.

Thenergo invests in, builds and operates power plants fuelled by biogas and biomass, and some natural gas-fired cogeneration plants. For example, at VPK Packaging Group in Belgium, it operates a 1.4MW cogeneration unit fired by biogas, which is released by waste sludge produced from water treatment at the paper works.

As well as waste, such power plants can also use maize and other food crops as a fuel. But Alen warned: "There will be an ethical discussion on using food for fuel."

Alen said securing the feedstock for biomass and biogas plants was "critical" for projects the company plans to undertake, especially since the sector is booming and competition for raw materials is increasing. "We will not accept a new project unless the supply [of fuel] is guaranteed," he said.

However, gaining permission to build biomass- and waste-fuelled power plants was still the biggest hurdle for Thenergo. The process typically takes around six to nine months, but Alen said the company encountered a four-month delay in the approval of one plant while the authorities debated what kind of trees to plant around the perimeter of the site.

Thenergo, a spin off from French renewable energy company Theolia, raised €70 million ($94 million) in a stock market flotation on 14 June, valuing the company at around €130 million. Its operational sites have a combined capacity of 25MW and the company plans to add 20-30MW of capacity each year, according to Alen.