A new dedicated biogas distribution network is being built in the German city of Lünen. Powered by agricultural waste, including cow dung and horse manure, 90,000 residents will benefit from the development, which will make the town the first in the world to build and manage a biogas network.

Fed by local farms, which deliver animal waste, as well as corn, wheat and grass, the feedstock is turned into biogas in anaerobic digesters. The gas is distributed over the city through a new biogas pipeline network being built underground with a horizontal drilling robot.

The gas network powers a series of 10 Schmitt Enertec Cogeneration units that feed electricity into the grid, and heat into local district heating networks. 

The plant produces 6.8 MW, enough energy to supply 26,000 houses with heat and electricity.

Peter Kindt, the chairman of local heat and power provider Alfagy Ltd said: “What makes this project exiting is the combination of Cogeneration with renewable energy in an urban environment.” 

The network is expected to deliver heat and electricity to customers by December 2009.