U.K.-based AD plant processes food waste to create electricity.
Weltec Biopower (UK) Ltd., based in Stoneleigh, United Kingdom, has been granted the contract to extend its food waste anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Piddlehinton, U.K. Plant owner Eco Sustainable Solutions Ltd. Is expanding with a further 1.1 megawatts (MW) of food waste processing capacity.
Weltec also has commissioned two other plants in 2014. With other construction projects underway, new staff recruited and what the company calls “a healthy order book,” Weltec says 2014 has been an excellent year for business. The original Eco-Dorset AD plant was also built by Weltec and was commissioned in 2012. After two years running, the operator assigned Weltec with the extension, which is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2014.
The plant is fed by local authority food waste as well as expired food products, which prior to digestion are unpackaged, sorted and pasteurized at the site. After the extension, approximately 37,000 metric tons per year of food waste will generate an electrical output of 1.6 MW.
Electricity generated at the plant as well as excess gas is fed to an adjacent feed mill. When the mill is not operational, the power is fed to the national electricity grid. The digestate (residue) produced by the plant is collected and used by local farmers.
Weltec says it is attentive to maintaining its partnerships with clients after the design/build phase. “We recognize that an AD plant is a 20-year partnership and that maintaining solid trust-based working relationships with our clients is crucial to our ongoing success,” says Weltec sales manager Kevin Monson. “Therefore we now have a dedicated U.K.-based service and maintenance capability with locally available spare parts.”
