genia bioenergy
COVAP Circular Energy Model
A pioneering synergy between biomass, biogas and photovoltaics.
genia bioenergy
A pioneering synergy between biomass, biogas and photovoltaics.
It is a Circular Economy Model for its facilities that foresees the use of photovoltaic energy and the production of biogas and biomass from the raw material left over from its activity; for the deployment of which it has relied on three leading companies in the respective sectors: Veolia to manage biomass, Magtel concerning the photovoltaic power plant and Genia Bioenergy for the biogas plant.
Located in the Andalusian municipality of Pozoblanco, the Cooperativa Ganadera del Valle de los Pedroches (COVAP) has been active in the dairy, meat and animal feed industries since 1959. It is an entity with more than sixty years of experience whose eagerness to reinvent itself and contribute to a more sustainable future, focused on the rational and integral use of resources, has led to the creation of a cutting-edge project that is unique in Europe.
Based on this premise, they have designed an energy model that hybridises cogeneration with biogas production, the use of biomass to generate thermal energy and a solar plant to supply photovoltaic energy to the facilities. The three energy sources will be distributed as follows:
“The main challenge will be to hybridise the different technologies and to continue advancing in our project towards a total decarbonisation of our production model. We have a great challenge with the biogas project, which is emblematic for the circularity it represents. Through anaerobic digestion, we will be able to recover 125,000 tonnes of slurry from dairy cattle, manure from calf and lamb typing centres, waste from the meat and dairy industries and sludge from our sewage treatment plants“, Vidal Madrid, COVAP’s Director of Operations and Sustainable and Digital Transformation, explains.
He adds that “the advantages of this new model focus on the maximum use of all own resources, less dependence on external energy, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 80%, the reuse of 60,000 m3 of water and the production of 25,000 tonnes of organic fertilisers, which will be used by farmers in the production of raw material for animal feed. Very important will be the generation of quality and specialised employment, which will also be an opportunity to retain talent in our territory.”
