London's first commercial AD plant opens for business

TEG Biogas, an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant located in Dagenham on the outskirts of London, opened on 23 April.

The plant is London's first commercial-scale AD and composting facility. It is also the first project to be invested in by the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB), via its Foresight magazine fund.

Technology firm TEG Group built and will operate the plant, which was completed on time and within budget. The group is also provided on-going operating and maintenance services to TEG Biogas under a 15-year contract.

Situated on a 4.7 acre site, the plant has the capacity to process up to 50,000 tonnes a year of food and green waste which would have otherwise been sent to landfill. It will generate 1.4MW of renewable electricity annually, which is being sold to the National Grid. It will also produce 14,000 tonnes of compost and 36,000 tonnes of digestate each year, for agricultural use, in addition to residual heat amounting to 1.15MW.

Shaun Kingsbury, CEO of the UK GIB, says: 'This project is an important first for London and provides a positive demonstration of a fully integrated renewable energy and waste management project. The anaerobic digestion and composting facility will see waste, which could have been sent to landfill, now being used to create renewable energy and heat as well as compose and digestate of the agricultural sector.'