‘Wales’ largest’ food waste AD officially opens

The £7 million plant at Waen has been developed by anaerobic digestion (AD) specialist Biogen under a 15 year contract signed in October 2012 with Denbighshire, Conwy and Flintshire councils.

The plant has the capacity to treat 22,500 tonnes of food waste from the local authorities each year as well as food waste from commercial sources. The waste will be used to generate 1MW of renewable electricity for the National Grid which Biogen claims is enough to power the nearby city of St Asaph – around 2,000 homes. It will also produce digestate for use as fertiliser by local farmers.

Denbighshire Councillor Brian Blakeley officially opened the facility near St Asaph alongside Biogen chief executive, Julian O’Neill last Thursday (November 20).

Ambitious

Cllr Blakeley said: “The creation of this plant was an ambitious project which required each organisation to work in partnership to bring it to fruition. It is now up and running and I am delighted that we will have the capacity to divert food waste from landfill and instead, use the waste to generate clean power and biofertiliser.”

Funding for the plant was provided by the Welsh Government, Denbighshire county council, Conwy county borough council and Flintshire county council, Iona Capital and Biogen. It is the second AD plant to be opened by Biogen in Wales. The company’s first AD plant in Wales is located in Gwynedd.

Biogen

Mr O’Neill said: “Biogen is delighted to have successfully commissioned a second AD plant in Wales, working in partnership with Denbighshire, Flintshire and Conwy councils to divert food waste from landfill and maximise the production of renewable energy. This project is a clear demonstration of the forward thinking approach adopted by the local authorities across Wales in managing food waste and protecting the environment.”

Construction work on Waen, located on the site of a former abattoir, began in July 2013 and was completed in August 2014.

Alongside the Waen and Gwynedd plants, Biogen has three other operational AD plants in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire. Two further plants in Warwickshire and Rhondda Cynon Taff are scheduled to be commissioned in 2015.