Bioenergy & Waste News

Monday 12 July 2010

Construction of the biomethane plant in Suffolk has now been completed

British Gas and Adnams Bio Energy have completed the construction of an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Suffolk, which they claim will be the first in the UK to use brewery and local food waste to produce renewable gas for injection into the national gas grid.

In partnership with National Grid, the £2.75 million facility, which has been built on the site of the Adnams Brewery and distribution centre in Southwold, will start injecting bioemethane into the gas grid later this summer. It is expected to generate up to 4.8 million kilowatt-hours per year, with some of the renewable gas also set to be used a vehicle fuel.

Adnams Bio Energy (ABE) is wholly owned by bioenergy plant construction company, the Bio Group, which is based in Cambridge. Adnams Brewery has licensed its brand name and is providing the feedstock for the plant. British Gas and Adnams revealed they had teamed up to develop the plant in February (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).

According to British Gas, the facility will eventually produce enough biomethane to power the Adnams brewery and run its fleet of lorries, while still leaving up to 60% of the output for injection into the grid.

The plant will use brewery and local food waste to generate biomethane, which the companies claim will make a contribution to decarbonising the gas grid and also prevent the release of methane to the atmosphere through diverting the waste from landfill.

Commenting on the plant, Bio Group chief executive, Steve Sharratt, said: "This facility has been designed using our groundbreaking technology as the first stage of a national roll out of AD plants. We use innovative, low carbon building techniques to produce energy through a completely organic and natural process; nothing is wasted."

Biomethane is produced from organic material such as food waste. It is very similar to natural gas and, once upgraded to grid specification, can be injected into the gas network for end use by customers. According to a study by National Grid, it could account for at least 15% of domestic gas consumption by 2020 (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).

Plant

The Adnams Bio Energy plant consists of three digesters, which are sealed vessels in which naturally-occurring bacteria act without oxygen to break down up to 12,500 tonnes of organic waste each year. The result is the production of biomethane as well as a liquid organic fertiliser.

In addition, following an agreement with Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, Adnams Bio Energy has deployed solar thermal panels and will shortly install photovoltaic (PV) cells, to create a ‘mini energy park' at the site.

The company claims that this will ensure that all of the site, including the Adnams Distribution Centre, will be using renewable energy generated on-site with some surplus energy available for export.

Funding

Funds from the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in Cambridge and grants from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the European Regional Development Fund (EDRF) and the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) have helped finance the construction of the facility.

Gearóid Lane, managing director of communities and new energy at British Gas, said: "This project demonstrates how local communities can help us move to a low carbon energy future.

"Using waste that would otherwise end up in landfill to produce renewable gas is mutually beneficial for the environment and homes and businesses."

Having completed the main construction stage of the Adnams Bio Energy plant, commissioning is now in progress.