The UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) has announced plans to provide funding for two anaerobic digestion plants on farms in Northern Ireland, with several other AD projects thought to be in the pipeline in the region.
The projects, in Cookstown, County Tyrone and Banbridge, County Down, will be used by local livestock farmers and have been developed alongside their advisors, KPMG, working with the GIB’s fund manager, Foresight and PAR Renewables, a consortium of three farming enterprises.
Shaun Kingsbury, GIB chief executive, said: “This is a textbook example of the types of project we should be seeing all across the UK.
“It’s economically important, injecting £6.5m into the rural economy in Northern Ireland and generating 22 new jobs. It’s green, turning farm waste into renewable energy and fertiliser. And it’s good for the local farming community, earning and saving them money.”
PAR Renewables spokesman, Rodney Sloan said: “We took the decision to develop an on-farm anaerobic digestion plant over three years ago, pooling the resources across our three farm enterprises.
“While we received planning permission nearly two years ago, the lack of suitable funding in the market has delayed the project’s development and we are therefore delighted to have worked with the GIB, Foresight, KPMG and Williams Industrial Services to secure a funding package tailored specifically to our project’s requirements.”
The feedstock for the plants will include farm waste from the surrounding farms and the digestate by-product will be used by them as a biofertiliser for their crops.
When completed, the two projects are expected to generate enough renewable energy to power 1700 households for a year. The reduction in greenhouse gas production from the projects will be equivalent to taking 2000 cars off the road for a year.
UK resources management minister Dan Rogerson said: “I am delighted that the Green Investment Bank has invested in these two excellent projects. “Anaerobic digestion is the unsung hero of the renewables industry; it diverts waste from landfill and generates clean, renewable energy.
“Given the technology’s flexibility it’s also a great way for farmers to secure additional income from manures and slurries alongside food waste.”

Assured Asset Energy (AAE), a UK-based company specialising in anaerobic digestion and waste gasification technologies, has set up £27 million (€33 million) in financing for up to 30 new on-farm biogas projects in Northern Ireland.

The fund, AAE says, will help Northern Ireland reach its 2020 renewables target. Set out in the Strategic Energy Framework for Northern Ireland 2010, the region must source 40% of its total energy from renewable materials in six years’ time.

It is expected the £27 million, which will be made available to the country’s farming community, will help establish plants able to process a total 450,000 tonnes per year of farm waste, producing enough biogas to generate up to 8.5MW of renewable energy for sale into the Northern Ireland grid.

Environment minister Mark Durkan was reported to have said: ‘This fund will help more farmers to seize the benefits of this renewable technology which can help them make savings and reduce running costs in the longer term. Anaerobic digesters can also assist in reducing carbon emissions and help meet Executive Renewable Energy targets.’

The next Labour government will prioritise renewable biogas as a cost-effective, locally-sourced, low-carbon source of heating.
This was announced last week by the Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Caroline Flint, who described green gas as the “big overlooked area” in energy policy.
Drawing on analysis from National Grid that shows up to 50% of domestic gas needs could be met from green gas, Ms Flint said her party would commission a report on the policy and regulatory reforms needed to maximise the potential for the development of green gas, following the next election.
Ms Flint, whose Don Valley constituency is home to the first commercial biogas plant connected to the grid at Hatfield Woodhouse, argued that experience from around the world showed that green gas was an innovative solution to the challenges of affordability, energy security and carbon reduction.
Speaking at the Gas Industry Awards event, she claimed there were no technical or safety barriers to delivering green gas, which could not be overcome.
“Indeed, we know it is do-able because it is already deployed in other countries. Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland and the United States already have green gas being injected into the grid, providing a locally sourced and low-carbon source of heating.”
Her announcement was welcomed by Charlotte Morton, chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association, who said biomethane from anaerobic digestion could play a huge role play in increasing UK energy security and decarbonising difficult areas like heating and road transport.
However, she added: “Maximising our industry’s potential will only be possible if the next government diverts food waste from landfill and ensures it is collected separately.”
The anaerobic digestion and biogas industry will meet to discuss the sectors potential to deliver ultra-low carbon gas and electricity, supporting green economic growth and jobs, energy security and helping the UK to meet its climate change and emissions targets, on July 2-3 at UK AD & Biogas 2014 at the NEC in Birmingham.