Biogas-Miskolc Kft will build a biogas plant at a cost of HUF 2.2 billion that will use the sewage sludge of Miskolc (NE Hungary) and its agglomeration as a renewable energy source, the company's Managing Director Imre Mehn said.

The development project, supported with HUF 1 billion in EU funding, is to start in August.

The founders of the project company are the local waterworks company MIVIZ Miskolci Vízmű Kft, Bioenergy-Miskolc Kft and WIS Zrt.

As a result of the development, the sewage treatment plant will be based on a fully self-sustaining system in terms of energy supply, with external energy only required in the event of a breakdown or long-term extra capacity requirement, so the energy generated will be entirely "green energy", the managing director said.

The investment is a move towards the establishment of sustainable energy supply in the city as it will create the possibility to use the biogas generated in other ways in the future, Mehn said.

The project will involve the neutralization of the sludge generated through sewage treatment and its treatment allowing final placement of the sludge.

The resulting sludge treatment and energy-generating system involves a technology upgrade and a change of the energy source at the existing sewage treatment plant.