Dec 13 2013
Anaergia Inc., announced today that UTS Biogas Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Anaergia based in the United Kingdom, has delivered a large-scale anaerobic digestion facility to Shropshire Energy, part of the G's Group.
The facility enables the generation of 2.4MW of renewable electricity, heat for facility operations as well as the production of high-grade fertilizer. The project sets a benchmark for how energy independence and environmental sustainability can be achieved by the food industry.
The anaerobic digestion system will produce nearly 20,000 MWh of renewable electricity and 22,000 MWh of renewable heat each year – enough to fully power and heat the G's Group 120 tonne per week mushroom growing operation, as well as export an additional 8,700 MWh of renewable electricity to the power grid which can meet the needs of over 4,000 homes. The anaerobic digestion process will also create a high-grade fertilizer that is used to support local crop growth.
"We are very pleased with the performance and system flexibility of the anaerobic digestion facility which was designed and delivered by UTS Biogas Ltd. We think that this facility is a model of closed loop sustainability." said Will Forbes, Director of Shropshire Energy, part of the G's Group.
The anaerobic digestion facility, located near Littleport, Ely, converts over 20,000 tonnes per year of vegetable outgrades including potatoes, onions, beets and radishes as well as 36,500 tonnes per year of maize silage into renewable energy and heat. The vegetable outgrades are fed, alongside the maize, into large fully sealed anaerobic digesters and biodegraded in the absence of oxygen through a natural decomposition process.
"We are proud to have been selected to support Shropshire Energy in achieving their goal of providing locally sourced renewable energy" said Dr. Mike Bullard, Managing Director of UTS Biogas Ltd. (UK). "This project will have a lasting positive impact by demonstrating how environmental sustainability and financial performance can be addressed through a proven high-solids anaerobic digestion solution."
As users of the renewable power and heat generated from the anaerobic digestion facility, G's Group will continue to be economically competitive as well as sustainable with their mushroom growing operation, by supplying a quality, cost-competitive product that is domestically produced in the United Kingdom.