Sunday, February 25, 2018

IADAB News - Edition 16 - AD vs Incineration Icknield Farm Plant Sold Blackburn Meadows Biogas

Date: 25 February 2018: This is Issue 16 of the IADAB News Weekly, where we summarise the news of the week in the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Industry.
Picture shows anaerobic digestion vs incineration as an image.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE VIDEO!

This week we are featuring 4 UK stories as follows:



The first for popularity was our video Disadvantages of Incineration vs Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas.  The video is a short into video, based upon a report accepted by the London Assembly’s Environment Committee, as reported in PR by ADBA titled "Anaerobic digestion industry welcomes London Assembly incineration report".

Second, we include the news that John Laing Environmental Assets has invested in the Icknield Farm anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, which it now owns. The company says that the AD sector is attractive to JLEN due to the high proportion of inflation-linked revenues backed by government subsidy regimes.

Third, Sheffield Blackburn Meadows Wastewater Treatment Plant has received an upgrade providing a new Anaerobic Digestion Plant in South Yorkshire.

Fourth and finally, in the news is that the North Selby Anaerobic Digestion & Horticultural Glasshouse Project is in consultation. Subject to planning, this new AD Plant will provide a new horticultural glasshouse facility for one of the country’s leading specialist plant propagation companies, using heat and electricity provided by a co-located Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facility.

Alright, let’s get started with the detailed articles… (Scroll down for each extract and use the links to the full articles on each of the individual websites.)

The following is our intro video. Watch the intro video below, for a taster of what you will read if you scroll down below the video:



1 - Disadvantages of Incineration vs Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas

We recommend that you read the full article about the disadvantages of Incineration vs Anaerobic Digestion, which is based upon a report accepted by the London Assembly’s Environment Committee, as reported in PR by ADBA titled "Anaerobic digestion industry welcomes London Assembly incineration report". Go to the above link to read our additional comments on the topic of disadvantages of burning waste and our wider perspective on this. via Incineration vs Biogas

Top tips on growing maize for anaerobic digestion
Building of new AD plants has stagnated somewhat, but there are still opportunities for farmers to grow maize for existing plants and make use of the digestate they produce. Growing maize for anaerobic digestion (AD) plants has seen a substantial increase in the last three years.

From harvest 2015 to harvest 2016 it saw a 55 per cent increase. However, more recently there has been a stagnation in construction of new AD plants as operators wait for the new Renewable Heat Incentive tariff to be agreed by the Government.

New legislation means new AD plants can only use 50 per cent of crop-based feedstock, whereas for existing ones it can be 100 per cent.

However, there are still significant opportunities for arable farmers to grow maize for AD plants and benefit from the digestate by-product they produce, believes Jon Myhill, technical feedstock manager, Future Biogas, which operates 11 plants, primarily in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, procuring crops, straw and manure from 11,000ha (27,170 acres).

“The AD industry’s selling point is that it’s a local market for farms and they are not exposed to volatile prices – the maize price doesn’t really fluctuate year-on-year. Prices are not at the top and not at the bottom, but as long as you get the yield, it’s not a risk every year growing it,” says Mr Myhill.

AD maize facts

  • 52,000ha of maize grown for AD in 2016, an increase of 55 per cent on the previous year 
  • AD accounts for 29 per cent of the total maize area in England 
  • Maize growing accounts for one per cent of the total arable area in England
via Top tips on growing maize for anaerobic digestion

2 - John Laing Environmental Adds Another Anaerobic Digestion Asset

John Laing Environmental has added another anaerobic digestion asset – John Laing Environmental Assets has announced an investment in the Icknield Farm anaerobic digestion (AD) plant. The investment consists of the provision of a debt facility to repay existing loans and acquisition of a minority equity stake from private individuals who were the project’s developers for an aggregate amount of c.GBP11m.

The Icknield Farm AD plant, located in Ipsden, South Oxfordshire, was commissioned in December 2014. The plant has a capacity of c.5MW and predominantly produces biomethane exported to the national gas grid. In addition, the plant also has a 0.4MW CHP engine and is accredited under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in-Tariff (FiT).

The Icknield Farm AD plant is JLEN’s second investment in the AD sector, building upon the recent acquisition of the Vulcan AD plant, to establish a growing portfolio of AD assets and further diversify the Company’s portfolio of environmental infrastructure projects including, wind, solar, waste and wastewater.

This acquisition brings the total capacity of the renewable energy assets in the JLEN portfolio to 259.2MW.

Richard Morse, the JLEN chairman, said “We are pleased to make a further investment in the anaerobic digestion sector through the Icknield Farm AD plant, which has a proven operational history. 

The AD sector is attractive to JLEN due to the high proportion of inflation-linked revenues backed by government subsidy regimes, and we look forward to working with our partners in the sector.” via JLEN Buys AD

3 - Sheffield Blackburn Meadows Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade: Anaerobic Digestion Plant – South Yorkshire

Blackburn Meadows wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is located in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, UK.

The plant was upgraded by a joint venture (JV) of AECOM and Galliford Try under two contracts worth £49m ($78m). The JV primarily improved and added new facilities at the site to expand the plant’s capacity to serve up to 830,000 people.

Worth around £19m ($30m), the second contract enables the plant to treat 21,000t of sludge on an annual basis, with integrated thickening and dewatering processes. Upgradation was completed in April 2016.

The project involved the construction of new inlet works, eight new primary settlement tanks, and aeration lanes, including the replacement of various facilities.

The second contract included the installation of a new mesophilic anaerobic digestion facility at the plant. It involved construction of buildings and various other pieces of equipment required to treat sludge. Mesophilic anaerobic digestion enables the breakdown of biodegradable materials using micro-organisms under moderate temperatures.

The new sludge treatment facility enables neighbouring farmlands to use the recycled sludge as manure. The facility also enables Yorkshire Water to generate 1.9MW of renewable energy using combined heat and power units.

The whole project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 6,500t, and greenhouse emissions by up to 30%. via Sheffield Blackburn Meadows Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade: Anaerobic Digestion Plant

4 - Peel – North Selby Anaerobic Digestion and Horticultural Glasshouse – North Yorkshire

The North Selby Anaerobic Digestion & Horticultural Glasshouse Project is in consultation and will provide a new horticultural glasshouse facility for one of the country’s leading specialist plant propagation companies, using heat and electricity provided by a co-located Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facility. The AD facility will employ combined heat and power (CHP) units to generate heat and electricity from up to 60,000 tonnes of organic waste (source separated food waste, commercial and industrial waste and agricultural waste) per year.


Our plans now include a horticultural glasshouse which will use heat and electricity generated by the AD facility, making the two facilities ideal for co-location. The North Selby site provides a suitable location for the facility due to its topography, existing grid connection and other infrastructure, access to good transport links and existing screening.

The plant propagation facility will be operated by Howden based specialists Plant Raisers – the UK’s foremost plant propagator for the horticultural sector – which has a vast amount of experience and continues to lead the way in new techniques and developments.

Plant Raisers is the largest tomato, cucumber and pepper plant propagator in the UK and the only one to have a quality system certified to conform to BS ISO 9001:2008.

Our project will use Anaerobic Digestion (AD) technology to generate heat and electricity from up to 60,000 tonnes of feedstock which will comprise organic waste such as separately collected food waste, materials arising from a broad range of commercial and industrial operations (such as waste from restaurants, schools, food processing plants and supermarkets) and agricultural wastes.

The main products resulting from anaerobic digestion are biogas - a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide which is very similar to natural gas - and digestate which can be used as a bio- fertiliser.

The biogas can be used to generate electricity, gas or heat, or compressed for use as a biofuel. via Peel – North Selby Anaerobic Digestion and Horticultural Glasshouse – North Yorkshire - Construction Project Profile.

We hope you found this week's anaerobic digestion news informative. Watch out for next week's news!

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