The Materials Action Programme is willing to provide 30% of capital costs for any digestion facility set up to process commercial and industrial waste in Wales before March 31, 2009.
 The Materials Action Programme has allowed Bank Farm in Powys to convert its existing anaerobic digester to generate electricity from industrial organic waste |
Anaerobic digestion involves the treatment of organic wastes by bacteria in controlled conditions with limited access to oxygen. The process generates a bio-gas, a form of methane, which can be used to generate electricity.
The capital support programme can support either a fixed plant or a mobile facility, land and infrastructure. The project can involve a new or expanded facility, and must use proven technology in commercial operation elsewhere.
The input material for the plant must be source-separated biodegradable waste, with at least 60% from commercial or industrial sources. The project must be dependent on the programme's funding, but be commercially viable in the medium-to-long term.
Full details of how to apply for funding is available on the funding section of the WRAP website.
Bank Farm
One of the first digestion projects to benefit from the Materials Action Programme has been Bank Farm in Powys, which has now secured a 60,000 grant to convert its existing small anaerobic digestion facility to generate electricity from industrial organic waste.
Run by farmer Clive Pugh, the facility has been generating methane to generate heat for 16 years, but will now produce electricity.
Mr Pugh said: “Companies have been generating electricity using bio-gas for years in other countries like Germany with huge success, and it's something I've wanted to do for years and years, but without funding it was just a pipe dream.”
The Wales Environment Trust, a recycling business support organisation that has worked to raise the profile of the Bank Farm digester since 2002, helped Mr Pugh secure the funding for the electricity generation unit.
The Trust's business development executive, Richard Carter, said the Bank Farm development could be repeated throughout Wales and the rest of the UK.
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He explained: “It helps industry by keeping costs down, it generates renewable electricity, it provides a digestate product that is much improved for use on land and it keeps wealth from the agricultural industry in the rural economy.”
Mr Carter went on: “The Welsh Assembly Government and the Wales Environment Trust want to increase the anaerobic digestion capacity throughout Wales, and Bank Farm is a great example of how successful it can be as a commercial operation.”
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