Scandinavian Biogas is one of the largest private producers of biogas in the Nordics
Scandinavian Biogas’s mission is to help achieve society’s goal of converting to renewable energy
Through its operations, Scandinavian Biogas contributes to a sustainable transition from fossil to renewable energy
The Company’s strategy is based on utilising the Group’s unique engineering expertise in biogas production to expand the biogas supply, in Sweden and internationally
Scandinavian Biogas’s aim is to be world-leading in large-scale biogas and bio-fertiliser production. The Company currently holds a leading position in renewable energy and biogas production in the Nordic region and it works to ensure an increased use of biogas in the energy mix.
The Nordic heavy road transport sector is currently the most significant area for the Company’s growth ambitions, although the biogas market is also expected to grow within maritime transport and industry. Demand for liquid biogas (LBG) has increased in recent years, along with the supply of biogas-powered vehicles. This affects the market for compressed biogas (CBG), which is currently local but is expected to develop into regional or national markets in future.
We are a Nordic organization, Scandinavian Biogas Fuels International AB is the mother company, with sister companies in Sweden, Norway and the Republic of Korea.
Our biogas plants: striving to be the most effective solution
Scandinavian Biogas supports customers and partners with what we do best: designing and operating biogas plants with high level of resource and energy efficiency. Furthermore, we strive to improve the efficiency of all our plants on a daily basis.
Increased production capacity through efficiency
At Scandinavian Biogas we keep our promises and take long-term responsibility. Proof of this are the plants that we operate in Sweden and the Republic of Korea. Indeed, at the Swedish plants in Bromma and Henriksdal we have increased the volume of fuel grade biogas an entire 21 percent in three years and have been able to maintain production at a high level. In the Republic of Korea our plant at Ulsan plays a key role in solving the city’s environmental problems with food waste. We have increased the management and processing of food waste from the city of Ulsan with more then 500%. As a result, the plant has been ranked by the the Republic of Korea authorities as the country’s most efficient biogas facility. The food waste that is now turned into biogas was earlier dumped into the ocean.
Qualified expertise with high level of competence
Our core expertise is to develop concepts for resource efficient, high loaded, stable biogas processes where organic waste and residual products are used as substrate. We either own or co-own the biogas facilities that we design and operate, adding value with our qualified expertise in the field of biogas production. Our strength lies in developing resource and economically efficient processes for many different types of substrate. These process concepts include the whole chain from designing biogas plants to the management, pretreatment and digestion of organic material as well as the upgrading of biogas to vehicle fuel grade quality. What differentiates us from many others in the industry is our deep knowledge of the biological process and our focus to use that to fine-tune the digestion process.
Integrated solutions: from waste to valuable bioproducts
In Sweden, our biogas production plant at Södertörn is Stockholm County’s first industrial facility for the digestion of food waste. During 2016 the facility extracted energy from 50,000 tonnes of food waste, corresponding to one year’s worth of waste from almost 700,000 Stockholmers. Biogas is produced by converting food waste into renewable bio gas and highquality biofertiliser. Due to the plant’s efficiency, nearly 80 per cent of food waste energy is converted to biogas.
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Our qualified expertise in biogas production enables us to:
Produce more gas per m3 digester volume.
Achieve greater stability in the reactor during the digestion process.
Provide qualified knowledge on a wide range of substrates.
Upgrade the gas with extremely low methane leakage.
Achieve effective cost and resource efficient Production.
Constantly increase the biogas capacity by process improvements.
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Our view of sustainability
The key driver and vision for Scandinavian Biogas is to take an active role in the conversion to a fossil free, circular and sustainable society.
For us, sustainability comes down to the way we design, build and manage our plants. This must be done with regard to environmental, social and economic impact on the external environment, our employees, the local community where we operate, our stakeholders, and society as a whole.
We identified tre different goals:
Investments in renewable energy – In recent years, Scandinavian Biogas has made extensive investments to support a fossil-free, circular and sustainable society. Increasing biogas production capacity is also a key factor in the Company’s growth strategy. New investment opportunities are continuously investigated.
Environment and resource efficiency – Operating our facilities resource-efficiently entails optimising the biogas process with the Company’s HOLD Technology™ as well as optimising water, energy and chemical usage. It also involves minimising emissions to air, water and land. These parameters are directly linked to the plants’ environmental impact and the products’ environmental and climate performance. They also go hand-in-hand with cost efficiency.
Product quality – Product quality is a key issue for the Company and our customers. Our upgraded biogas meets Swedish Vehicle Gas Quality Standards. The bio-fertiliser produced is spread on arable land and must maintain a high level of quality/purity. Upstream work, detailed quality requirements, random sampling and regular collaboration with waste management operators are crucial in our process to maintain such high level of product quality. Scandinavian Biogas is certified under the Swedish Waste Management and Recycling Association’s SPCR 120 regulations.
Working environment – Skilled and committed employees are essential for Scandinavian Biogas’s continued development. Scandinavian Biogas needs to be a safe and secure workplace, where our employees are inspired by their work and have opportunities to develop. Through our work on values and care for employees, we strive for a healthy, motivating and welcoming corporate culture that lives up to our values; Respect, Knowledge, Joy and Passion.
Develop partnerships – Scandinavian Biogas will continue to secure and strengthen long-term strategic partnerships across the entire value chain. The growth projects currently under development by the Company are also pursued in close collaboration with partners and customers to be able to continue according to plan and minimize risks.
Through membership Energigas Sverige, Avfall Sverige and Biogas Öst and is engaged in advocacy work towards politicians, media and authorities in order to promote biogas long-term game rules. Scandinavian Biogas contributed to proposal for National Biogas Strategy and contributed to the publishing of several articles.
Scandinavian Biogas contributes to six of the 17 Global Sustainability Goals Agenda 2030, based on the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, the social and the environmental.
Read more about our sustainability policy (in Swedish).
Work with us
Some of our employees
Open positions
Head of Communication – Stockholm
Head of Sales (Inbound) – Stockholm
Logistics Coordinator – Södertörn
Operation Technician (TNG) – Södertörn
Operation Technician – Södertörn
Operation Technician with maintenance responsibility- Södertörn
If you are interested in any future employment, you can register your interest at: info(at)scandinavianbiogas.com
Scandinavian Biogas’s two business models
Our business concept is to be a leader in the design, management and operation of biogas plants
Business model Scandinavian Biogas essentially operates under two business models, based on its world-leading HOLD Technology™. The Company’s strength lies in its qualified engineering expertise in the development of resource-efficient, economical processes for many different types of substrate.
With HOLD Technology™, the process concept includes the entire chain – from biogas plant design to managing, pre-treating and digesting organic material and upgrading biogas to vehicle fuel quality. The efficient operation of biogas facilities is at the core of Scandinavian Biogas’s business model. The Company attaches great importance to systematically improving and fine-tuning the digestion process.
Build-Own-Operate (BOO)
focuses on constructing biogas plants in accordance with HOLD Technology™ and on operating them in a resource-efficient manner based on Scandinavian Biogas’s expertise.
Engineering and Operations (E&O)
emphasises Scandinavian Biogas’s service on engineering and technical support in connection with the design and operation of biogas plants based on HOLD Technology™.
HOLD Technology™ och The Leadership of Microbes™
One of Scandinavian Biogas’s success achievements is its self-developed HOLD Technology™, an advanced process technology used to optimise large-scale biogas production. The method is one of the most effective in the world and has been utilised on a full scale in Ulsan, Republic of Korea, where production efficiency has increased 3–5 times since the Company took over in 2007.
HOLD stands for High Organic Load Digestion
The method, developed by the Company’s R&D department in close collaboration with Linköping University, is founded on three cornerstones:
The first cornerstone involves the way a biogas plant should be designed to increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption between stages – e.g. from food waste collection site to digestion tank. This is the system’s hardware, involving mainly stirring and also pipes, pumps and heat exchangers.
The second cornerstone is based on in-depth expertise and well-proven methodology regarding the substrates that work best in various combinations. Since 2005, Scandinavian Biogas has tested over 350 different substrates in a laboratory environment. Substrates need to be mixed with chemicals and other additives to achieve an optimal balance between maximum energy extraction, efficient decomposition and minimal production of by-products. The right combination – the recipe – is the system’s software.
The third cornerstone involves the way the substrate is introduced to the digestion tank to allow the micro-organisms to maintain efficient production with a high substrate utilisation rate. The product – biogas and bio-fertiliser – is then packaged and transported, and any by-products are taken care of in order to close the circle.
The development of HOLD Technology™ is one of the Company’s greatest successes.
The technology also forms the foundation of the business. Identification of a substrate mix that provides efficient microbiological decomposition and that can subsequently be refined into vehicle fuel quality via an optimised digestion process: this is the Company’s key driver – The Leadership of Microbes™.
Scandinavian Biogas has primarily focused on improving the mesophilic process, where production takes place in a temperature between 35 to 40 degrees Celsius. The company has made substantial steps forward in research & development, including the evaluation of over 350 types of organic material as substrate for biogas production. Furthermore, the company has developed robust processes that accommodate high loads in the reactor, enabling production levels far more efficiently and economically than has previously been possible.
Process research and development
Scandinavian Biogas’ Research and Development (R&D) aims to expand current understanding of the anaerobic digestion technology to secure process efficiency, flexibility and profitability. The main expertise of the R&D are the microbial part of the process i.e. the biological digestion that take place inside the reactor but we also work with questions related to pre-treatment and dewatering/refining of digestate. This is achieved through the dedicated work of qualified and experienced researchers, lab technicians and process engineers. The work is tailored at lab scale and applied to full scale production units.
Our R&D group has years of experience from lab- and pilot-scale, working on the design and implementation of new process concepts
With the base in conventional anaerobic lab scale reactors at mesophilic and thermophilic condition, process performances are trimmed to maximize methane yields and organic loading rates. The reactors are often run to simulate intended full-scale processes and the daily follow-up enables the R&D group to identify and correct various types of process problems, most of which are linked to some kind of nutrient or tracer deficiency.
Substrate evaluation
To enhance biogas production and its synergy with existing industrial businesses, innovative feedstocks are needed. Over the years, our R&D has been testing more than 350 substrates including waste material from the food processing industry, differed wastewater streams from the pulp and paper industry and residues from the forestry-, aquaculture- and agriculture sectors. Each test allows us to identify specific biomass’ characteristic and its potential methane yield.
An extended network with national and international research institutions, universities, industrial partners and other stakeholders
Our activates also include coordinating and/or participating in R&D projects supported, for example, by The Swedish Energy Agency, the Swedish research council for sustainable development (FORMAS), the European Commission and the Research Council Norway. In Sweden, Scandinavian Biogas has a long term collaboration with Linköping University and the Biogas Research Center (BRC) – a national competence center founded by the Swedish Energy Agency.
Are you looking for a project partner?
Please send your request to Jörgen Ejlertsson, Process R&D Director – jörgen.ejlertsso(a)scandinavianbiogas.com
2020
On the 16th December, Scandinavian Biogas is first traded in Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market Stockholm. Other major achievements include the full acquisition of Biokraft (NO) and Ekdalens Biotransporter (SE).
2019
Liquid biogas (LBG) is confirmed as one of the strategic are of development. The company signed a long-term LBG supply agreement with Hurtigruten AS, one of the larger Norwegian coastal ferry service and cruise line.
2018
Commissioning of the biogas plant in Skogn, Norway, outside Trondheim, began in June. The plant is the world’s largest for the production of liquid biogas fuel (LBG). It was officially inaugurated by Norwegian former Prime Minister Erna Solberg in September.
2016
Scandinavian Biogas invests in a biogas project in Norway and acquires majority stake in Biokraft Holding AS. The new line for upgrading of biogas at Henriksdal is taken in operation. Scandinavian Biogas issues a corporate bond that is subsequently listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. The first trading day was April 8th 2016
2015
On the 2nd October, the former Chairman of Scandinavian Biogas, Göran Persson and Sweden’s former Minister of Energy, Ibrahim Baylan inaugurated Södertörns new biogas plant. This means that the Stockholm County with just over two million inhabitants now has its first industrial biogas plant for food waste.
2014
In early March, Scandinavian Biogas entered into an agreement with SRV Återvinning AB to construct a new biogas plant at Gladö Kvarn, Södertörn. The objective is to process food waste from five municipalities south of Stockholm, converting it into fuel grade biogas. The project will help expand the availability of renewable fuels in the region.
2013
The Scandinavian Biogas production plant in South Korea was named the country’s most effective facility, an award that generated great interest among politicians and media. Thanks to the Scandinavian Biogas plant, Ulsan is one of the few South Korean cities to successfully adhere to new legislation prohibiting the dumping of food waste in the sea.
2010
Following extensive improvement in the production process at the Youngyn biogas plant in Ulsan, South Korea, both reactors are deployed. Furthermore, Scandinavian Biogas acquires Stockholm Vatten’s facilities for the upgrade of raw biogas at Bromma and Henriksdal with the goal to improve the amount of biogas available on the Stockholm gas market.
2009
Former Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson replaces Erik Danielsson as Chairman of Scandinavian Biogas. In conjunction with this, Erik Danielsson is appointed honorary chairman of the company.
2008
Scandinavian Biogas Fuels shareholders acquire the majority in UltraSonus and Scandinavian Biogas Fuels becomes a subsidiary of UltraSonus. At the same time, UltraSonus changes its name to Scandinavian Biogas Fuels International.
2007
Scandinavian Biogas is commissioned to increase the capacity for digestion of food waste in the South Korean city of Ulsan. The food waste to be treated had earlier been dumped into the ocean. The two entered a collaboration, encompassing a concession agreement with a term of 15 years.
2005
The company later named Scandinavian Biogas is founded by Erik Danielsson, Jörgen Ejlertsson and Ola Ödmark. At that time, these far-sighted pioneers knew nothing of the financial crises and technical setbacks that they would face, nor did they know that the company would eventually become one of Sweden’s leading suppliers of biogas.
2004
UltraSonus (establishes by Erik Danielsson in Öregrund in 1996) initiates tests on the effect of ultra sound on biogas production together with Tekniska Verken in Linköping. The tests are managed by Tekniska Verkens Process manager Jörgen Ejlertsson and UltraSonus CEO Ola Ödmark.