EUBCE 2026 - Gert VAN TONDER - Techno-Economic Viability of a Carbon-Negative 20 t/h Biomass Gasification Project integrated with Electrical Production at the back end — IRR-Positive Without Local Incentives

Techno-Economic Viability of a Carbon-Negative 20 t/h Biomass Gasification Project integrated with Electrical Production at the back end — IRR-Positive Without Local Incentives

Short Introductive summary

This paper demonstrates how a 20 t/h biomass gasification facility — designed for combined heat, power and biochar co-products and achieving verified carbon-negative performance — can deliver investor-level returns in a European and global market without relying on local capital grants or tax credits. During the research couple detailed steady-state engineering (air/oxygen-enriched gasifier mass/energy balances, syngas cleanup, turbine or CHP matching, and biochar accounting) with a layered project finance model. The financial model implements an 80/20 debt/equity structure, debt-first servicing, explicit cash-flow waterfalls, management fees and sponsor/investor waterfalls, and stress tests across feedstock cost, CapEx, O&M, and market prices.

G. Van Tonder, Regen Biofuels, Moscow, USA
W. Botha, Bara Consultants, Moscow, USA