Fact
We use more muscles to frown than to smile. Save energy - smile more.
About our plants
With our proven British technology and unmatched operating experience in the UK, we are in pole position to fulfill our plan of a network of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants across the country.
These plants will meet the growing demand from food producers, retailers, caterers, waste contractors and local authorities for AD facilities – and, of course, from farmers and landowners who understand the considerable benefits of using natural, nutrient-rich fertilisers to grow more food.
Of our three commercial AD plants, Westwood is the newest, opened in June 2009, and located near Rushden in Northamptonshire. The other two are Twinwoods in Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire (opened in 2005) and Biocycle in Ludlow, Shropshire (opened in 2006).
The BiogenGreenfinch AD plants are licensed by both the Environment Agency under The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010, and Animal Health under Animal By Product Regulations (2005).
Providing renewable energy
Westwood can process 45,000 tonnes of food waste each year producing 2.1MW of renewable electricity, sufficient for 3,600 homes. It also produces 35,000 tonnes of a superior liquid biofertiliser, enough to support 1,750 acres of growing crop.
Between them, Twinwoods and Ludlow can process 47,000 tonnes of waste, generate 1.5 MW of green electricity and make 33,000 tonnes of biofertiliser.
Our AD plants convert food waste into biogas – a mixture of methane and carbon-dioxide. The biogas is then fed into large gas engines to produce renewable electricity and renewable heat. Over 90% of the electricity produced is exported to the grid, the remainder is used by the plant itself. Similarly, around a third of the renewable heat produced is used in the AD process and the rest can be exported. Other alternatives simply don’t come close, and composting does not produce energy at all.
With the UK committed to a target of 15% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, our anaerobic digestion plants are already supplying both renewable electricity and renewable heat – and, unlike wind power and solar energy, they can run for 24 hours, 365 days a year.
