The preferred bidder appointment made by the Tomorrow's Valley Hub led by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and including Merthyr Tydfil and Newport City Councils is for a 15 year contract for the design, construction and operation of a 22,500 tonnes anaerobic digestion (AD) plant next to the existing landfill site at Bryn Pica near Aberdare.

The AD plant at Bryn Pica will process food waste collected from homes within the Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport areas and also local businesses to generate renewable electricity for the grid - enough to power more than 2,000 homes continually for a year. The plant will also produce a valuable biofertiliser for local farmland.

Subject to planning permission, work on the Bryn Pica plant will commence in mid-2013.  It is expected that the plant will be operational and generating electricity by Summer 2014.

BIOGEN’s Chief Executive, Richard Barker said, “This is fantastic news for South Wales and for Biogen.  We are delighted that Tomorrow’s Valley has recognised our knowledge, skills and capability in the field of anaerobic digestion and we are excitedly looking forward to delivering this state of the art food waste AD plant for the community in this region of Wales.”