Work has already begun on the 50,000 tonne-a-year capacity plant, which is being built at Trumps Farm, Longcross. The plant was awarded planning permission in December 2011.
Agrivert has been seeking around 11 million in funding for the development of the facility, with Grundon set to provide a shareholder loan to the Oxfordshire-based company, with the remainder coming from financier SQN Capital Management, via a senior debt facility.
James Astor, Agriverts managing director, said: We are very pleased to have raised funding for this important project. We believe that Agrivert is extremely well positioned to take advantage of the significant opportunity in the UK AD market and are delighted to be maintaining the momentum of our AD plant rollout.
“At the same time, our customers will benefit because having an AD facility closer to London means we can further extend the services we provide”
Neil Grundon, Grundon
Grundon is set to benefit from the investment after recently launching a dedicated food waste collection service, with some of the waste collected likely to be treated at the Trumps Farm facility.
Collection
Food waste collected by the company is currently processed at one of Agriverts two existing AD plants at Cassington and Wallingford in Oxfordshire, where it is turned into a biofertiliser and biogas for energy production.
Grundon deputy chairman, Neil Grundon, said: We see a big future in food waste, which is why we have made this investment. We have a good working relationship with Agrivert and a real respect for its business, so we are delighted to be part of this exciting new project.
At the same time, our customers will benefit because having an AD facility closer to London means we can further extend the services we provide.
The Trumps Farm facility, which will be used to treat commercial and household food waste, will generate around 2.3MW of electricity, enough to supply around 4,000 homes. It is expected to be fully operational by Spring 2014.
Last week saw the formal opening of Agriverts 10 million AD facility at Wallingford by resource minister Lord de Mauley (see letsrecycle.com story). The facility is Agriverts second completed AD plant in the UK, and has been operational since January.
Opening the plant on Friday (May 17) Lord de Mauley said he was delighted by the expansion of the AD sector. The government has previously pledged its support for AD as its preferred method of treatment for food waste.
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