By order of Saar Ferngas AG, a company of the STEAG-group, the Wuppertal Institute will assess the regional potentials of biogas production and injection into the existing gas grid.
The project is a regionalization of the current study "Analysis and Assessment of Utilization Pathways of Biomass" on behalf of the German gas industry. The reference area is the supply sector of Saar Ferngas AG and therefore includes the Saarland as well as wide parts of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The aim of this project is to locate priority areas that can provide sufficient biomass potential as well as suitable locations for biogas plants and injection points for biogas into the natural gas grid.

The following key questions will be assessed:

• Which relevant categories of biomass are available in the area of investigation und what are the potentials of fermentative biogas production?
• What is the intake capacity of the existing gas grid regarding pressure, gas quality and load and what is thus the potential of injection to the grid? Where could possible priority areas for an injection be located?
• What is the structure of the involved actors from agriculture, plant engineering and construction and gas suppliers and what kinds of business models are possible to bring the actors together?
• How is the production and injection of biogas as a new, innovative and ecological business field for the gas supplier to be assessed?