Financing & Public Support of Biogas Plants

Sources of Financing

The cost necessary for the construction of biogas plants frequently exceeds the means at the disposal of the investor, in other words he cannot cover them from his regular income or savings. This could also apply to the larger replacement investments occurring at certain intervals during the economic lifetime of the plant. Besides the non-recurring i.e. a-periodical costs, the running costs of the plant have to be borne. This solvency outflow however, is set against solvency inflow in the form of regular revenue. A solvency analysis can show how far the net solvency outflow has to be financed and how much scope there will be from net solvency inflow. Usually the construction and operation of biogas plants involve a demand for financial means which can only be covered by borrowed capital. In general the following can be seen as sources:

Grants and credits from institutes for economic aid Means from the national budget of the developing country (public support) Credits from national (developing) banks Funding from international carbon trading schemes Resources of the project initiator Fees/contributions from the user

The various sources have to be individually examined for their ability to provide the means.

Running, Maintenance and Repair Costs

The financing of investments and of the operation of the plant should be clearly settled at the preplanning stage. It has to be ensured that the quota derived from public funds is firmly planned in the budget. Special attention has to be paid to the question of how the running, maintenance and repair costs can be financed. Means for servicing and repairing are of essential importance and have to be available in sufficient quantity and in good time in order to make full use of the possible lifetime of the plant and also to insure the confidence of the user in the reliability of the plant.

Financing by Credit

When financing by credit the questions of liability and debt provisions should be clarified. The borrower should always be able to bear the possible risk or be immune to this risk by having state credit guarantees. The debt provisions should be worked out so that they conform to the development of cost and yield. Credit repayment terms are frequently much shorter than the lifetime of a project e.g. 5 years compared to 15 - 20 years. The bringing up of capital often becomes an invincible barrier for the investor.

State Support

When the profitability of biogas plants are negative on a private scale, but on a national scale lead to positive results, state support measures are required.

On principle the following can be seen as starting points for the distribution of biogas plants to such an extent that would make them macro-economically feasible and socio-politically desirable:

• the creation or alteration of structural conditions for individual investment decisions in favour of biogas plants, e.g. more critical control of firewood consumption and tree-felling, regulations concerning the treatment and disposal of substrates (waste water, faeces)
• the subsidising of private and institutional community biogas plants by means of grants or inexpensive credits
• the construction and operation of biogas plants as public utility enterprises especially as municipal community plants, in appropriate instances by allocation of appropriated means to the municipalities.

Families with Low Incomes

The more plants are extended to families with low incomes, the less can the costs for construction and operation of the plant be met by contributions from the users. On village community plants in India providing energy for the households practical experience has indicated that not even the running costs can be met by user fees. Consequently, not only the investment costs but also a proportion of the running costs has to be covered by general tax revenue. The resolution of the Indian Government provides a guideline for the extent of public support whereby from case to case 50 to 100% of the cost for community biogas plants are subsidised.

Since the implementation of biogas plants necessitates considerable investment from public funds, sufficient public means for parallel socio-techno-economic investigations should be provided for, which allow a suitable feedback to promotion and distribution strategy.