DECC minister opens Tamar AD facility

The Retford plant which is a joint venture between Tamar and Sutton Grange Anaerobic Digestion – will take agricultural waste made primarily of chicken litter and vegetable trimmings from local suppliers in nearby areas of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire. An additional 10% of the feedstock will be comprised of maize.

Situated on a 2,500 acre family farm owned by Sutton Grange co-founder Fred Walter, the facility is claimed to be the largest on-farm AD plant in the UK to date and will convert biogas to generate renewable electricity for the National Grid.

In addition, heat generated will be used to dry woodchips for sale to the Drax biomass power station in North Yorkshire.

Investment

Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change Greg Barker MP welcomed the plant as an example of sensible investment in renewable energy.

He said: Energy from waste is an essential part of the energy mix, its a win-win helping to drive low carbon energy and helping reduce bills for hardworking consumers.

Tamar Energys new anaerobic digestion plant is the largest facility of its kind in the UK and is a great example of how waste can be used to power homes and businesses across the country. Thats why we have put a range of financial incentives in place to encourage other organisations to rise to the challenge.

Alan Lovell, chairman of Tamar Energy, added: Having Greg Barker here today to officially open our first Midlands facility is a clear sign of the governments commitment to supporting AD. It recognises the obvious benefits that the technology can bring to the UKs renewable energy mix.

The Retford facility makes a significant contribution to our plan for a flexible national network generating energy from a wide range of organic material, while fulfilling the long-held ambition of Fred Walter and Mark Paulson for an AD plant at Sutton Grange.

Network

Retford is one of 40 AD plants being developed by Tamar Energy, which will form part of a UK-wide network scheduled to be completed by 2018.

The firm called for governments Renewable Heat Incentive to be ring-fenced in September last year, fearing pre-existing generators were drying up the market for new, localised infrastructure (see letsrecycle.com story).