Severn Trent Water is investing £13 million to build a new anaerobic digestion plant for food waste at its Coleshill Sewage Treatment Works.

Once the plant is operational the company will be able to convert local food waste into renewable energy.

Mike Surrey, who is overseeing the project, explained why Severn Trent is investing in the plant:

“Just in our region, there’s 750 kt (kilo tonnes) of available food waste every year.  At the moment a lot of this just rots away in landfill, with no benefit to anyone.  However, when we’ve built this new anaerobic digester we’ll be able to generate electricity to power our sites and sell the extra back to the grid.  The great thing about this is that not only will it save Severn Trent a huge amount of money, it also helps to protect the environment.”

By the end of 2014, the Coleshill plant which is currently under construction should be converting up to 50,000 tonnes of food waste into energy and a high quality bio-fertiliser. 

Mike Surrey added that the new plant was “only just the beginning” for Severn Trent’s AD plans.   Once the digester at Coleshill is up and running, the firm has ambitious plans to roll out food waste plants across the Severn Trent region. Severn Trent is currently looking at where the next two plants will be located.

 The utility is already industry leader for renewable energy and each of these plants is expected to generate around two per cent of Severn Trent Water’s energy needs.