Somerset council approves biogas extension

A biogas facility in Somerset, south west England, has been given approval to double its current capacity to power 4,000 homes.

Currently the Cannington Enterprises plant uses an anaerobic digester to produce power from residue crops such as maize silage, grass, whole crop and big bale silage but it will now be allowed to treat up to 75,000 tonnes of other waste such as rotting food.

A number of residents objected to the original application, made in March, because they believed it would create excess traffic on narrow roads and that the smell would impact tourism in surrounding areas.

The company needs to prepare an odour management plan, a noise management plan and landscape plan before commencing the build.

As part of the extension, the company plans to extend a tanker loading to an existing building, build a separator facility for the ‘spent digestate accompanied by a solid digestate bay and liquid digestate tank’, and construct a maintenance building and gas holder.