Green light for a tenth gas-to-grid plant in the UK

Agraferm Technologies has received three new orders for biogas plants in England.

Near Lincoln, in Metheringham, the company is building a new gas-to-grid biomethane plant. The plant will consist of one digester and a post digester yielding 400Nm3/h of biomethane and 500kW of electricity.

The Metheringham project will be one of Agraferm's smaller plants. As the company's chief technology officer Heinrich Schulze Herking explains: 'Plants in this performance class normally require three to four tanks but thanks to our high-load fermentation, Agraferm plants require substantially less tank volume.'

The second project recently entrusted to Agraferm is at Decoy Farm in Crowland adjacent to the compost facility which is run by Material Change. The digester and post digester are loaded directly with a combination of energy crops and refuse. This downstream combined heat and power (CHP) plant produces 2.8MW of electricity. The construction and operation of the AD plant at Decoy is being managed by an affiliate of Material Change.

The third project is also based on an individually drafted concept with a flexible substrate mix. Agraferm was contracted by Future Biogas to build its CHP plant in Methwold. Of the 50,000 tonnes of the raw material that will be used at the plant, more than half will come from pig manure rather than from energy crops. This is made possible by upstream milling, two digesters and one post digester. The Methwold plant will produce biomethane at a rate of 400Nm3/h as well as power for the 500kW CHP plant.

Agraferm says the three new plants will all be completed by the end of this year, when its portfolio of UK-based biogas plants will total 20.