With the first Feed-In Tariff (FIT) degression applied from April 1, the Green Investment Bank (GIB) is expected to come out in support of the UK’s anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas industry at the country’s biggest biogas event in July.
Partha Vasudev, vice-president waste & bioenergy at the GIB, has been confirmed to speak at the UK AD & Biogas 2014, organised by the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA), at the NEC in Birmingham on July 2 and 3.
The GIB invests in UK projects which are both green and commercial and it has identified waste as a priority sector for its investment, appreciating the potential for anaerobic digestion to deliver against the bank’s mandate to deliver sustainable green growth.
“Anaerobic digestion is an exciting market for the Green Investment Bank. The technology is at the core of government waste policy, and with a good pipeline of projects it can help us meet our investment goals and accelerate investment in the green economy,” said Mr Vasudev recently.
“The strong growth in the marketplace over the last year is exciting and we look forward to working with the industry to achieve its potential.”
GIB has identified that AD capacity already available to be developed requires investment of around £650m, and the bank’s support in this investment would make a significant difference to the UK’s AD infrastructure and the speed at which it develops.
The bank’s investment funds have already committed a combined £10m to TEG’s Dagenham AD plant – where build was completed last month – and Earthly Energy’s Teeside AD plant, where construction began in March 2013. The potential for further investment in both the waste and farming sectors is an exciting prospect.
ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton said: “I am delighted that the Green Investment Bank will be presenting at UK AD & Biogas 2014. The bank has already made a hugely valuable contribution to the industry through its early investments and its first market report, and we look forward to hearing how they have seen that market develop.
“In the future, there are huge opportunities to support the market more widely. The government’s response to the Ecosystem Markets Task Force recognised the key role that smaller AD plants can play in supporting climate-smart farming and confirmed that they ‘will work with WRAP and the Green Investment Bank to explore the financing of farm-scale AD projects at an aggregate level, both for equity investments and for debt financing.”
“Given the challenges facing smaller scale AD, GIB’s analysis of the market in general will be fascinating.”