According to the firm, the new technology will enable the facility to export a total of 3 million cubic metres of natural gas to the grid per year.
Bio methane is a natural by-product of the anaerobic digestion process and is created when food waste is broken down by microorganisms. The bio methane needs to be ‘cleaned’ before it can be exported the National Gas Grid.
The plant also produces liquid fertiliser which is available to local farmers.
Contract
The 34,000 tonnes-per-year capacity Bishops Cleeve AD facility opened its doors in November 2014, and is operating as part of a five-year food waste processing contract between Andigestion and Gloucestershire county council.
Deliveries from Gloucestershire businesses began late last year, and from last month the plant is also taking in food waste from domestic collections as well as the first collections from Gloucestershire schools.
Jason Ward, commercial development Manager at Andigestion, said: “This new investment will allow us to process the bio methane and put it into the National Gas Grid, creating another stream of income for the plant and helping to ensure that increasing amounts of gas used by homes in the UK comes from renewable sources.”
The firm operates two facilities across the UK, including its flagship plant at Holsworthy in Devon, which was the first ever plant to achieve the PAS 110 certification for biofertiliser, an accolade it achieved in March 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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