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Green Airport Memmingen reaches heating milestone with Jenbacher biogas CHP plant

One of three Bavarian commercial airports, Allgäu Airport is used by about 2 million passengers each year to reach more than 50 destinations from Memmingen. With the goal of zero CO2 by 2030, the airport’s ambitious “Green Airport Memmingen” puts sustainability and climate neutrality at the forefront. And, it already has reached one milestone: the conversion of the heat supply from fossil fuels to a flexible, biogas-powered Jenbacher combined heat and power energy solution from the INNIO Group.

Jenbacher
  • Green Airport Memmingen

Above 90%

Overall efficiency

1,600 metric tons

Less CO2 per year

650,000 m3

Of natural gas or heating oil replaced by biogas

13

Memmingen Airport aims to be the first climate-neutral German commercial airport by 2030. We are proud to contribute with our Jenbacher energy solution.

Joachim Maier, responsible for the Jenbacher product brand’s German business at the INNIO Group

The previous heat supply at Memmingen Airport was based on oil and gas from a pipeline. Airport Energie Management GmbH, a joint venture between Flughafen Memmingen GmbH and e-con AG, updated the energy center in March 2023 to reduce emissions. That’s when a Jenbacher J420 CHP plant providing 1,500 kW of electricity and 1,700 kW of heat replaced the previous CHP plant. A 5-kilometer pipeline from the Bitzer biogas plant in nearby Hawangen supplies the Jenbacher plant with climate-friendly biogas from organic waste – also known as biomass. This local merger of energy production and consumption creates a win-win situation for all those involved, as well as the environment and climate.

Unlike decentralized biogas plants, almost all the heat from this biogas plant can be used in the district heating network. This is highly efficient.

Peter Waizenegger, e-con Management Board

High level of efficiency and flexibility

The Jenbacher energy solution not only stands out due to its high overall efficiency of more than 90%, but also thanks to its flexibility. Because the Jenbacher CHP plant should only run when the green electricity produced can be sold to the grid operator at economical feed-in tariffs. Of course, the heating of the airport must always be ensured regardless of this. To guarantee this, a buffer tank with a capacity of 300,000 liters was also installed. The system also includes a peak load boiler and a pellet boiler.

Renewable heat from ... and for the region

Compared to the previous energy supply, the new Jenbacher cogeneration plant saves 650,000 cubic meters of natural gas or heating oil per year in the same quantity and also reduces the airport’s CO2 emissions by about 1,600 metric tons per year. In addition to the airport buildings, the CHP plant supplies almost all neighboring industrial and commercial operations with climate-friendly district heating. Due to the modular and flexible structure of the heat supply and the network dimensioning, more companies can be connected to the district heating network in the future and supplied with regional renewable heat.

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