Pannonia Bio and E.ON feed biogas made from corn fiber into the national gas network

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 01. 22. 11:45

Almost 100 percent pure, plant fiber-based biomethane is fed into the domestic natural gas network as a result of the cooperation between the E.ON Hungária Group and Pannonia Bio Zrt. Pannonia Bio’s biorefinery in Dunaföldvár processes fodder corn and barley, among other things. The remaining plant fibers are also utilized, producing biomethane of the same quality as natural gas, i.e. biogas of high purity. This is fed into E.ON’s gas network, through which energy from a completely renewable source can reach customers.

As the largest fodder corn processor in Central Europe and also the owner of the third largest barley plant in the world, Pannonia Bio Zrt. produces GMO- and antibiotic-free protein products and bioethanol from domestic grain on an industrial scale. In addition, the company is one of the largest producers of renewable energy in Hungary. It produces as much green energy as a 2,000 MW solar power park every year. This corresponds to the annual energy demand of more than 600,000 households, or to put it another way, it is equal to the total residential energy demand of the 12 most populous rural Hungarian cities.

Their biogas plant in Dunaföldvár is the largest such facility in Eastern Europe. Every year, more than one million tons of feed corn and, since 2023, 300,000 tons of barley are purchased almost entirely from Hungarian farmers, and almost the same amount is used to produce various protein feed and food industry raw materials, as well as bioethanol. In the company’s plant, biomethane of almost 100% purity is produced from the fiber selected during grain processing as an intermediate product – with closed technology, without wastewater discharge – which will be fed into the domestic natural gas network as part of a joint development with the E.ON Hungária Group from June 2023.