Jones Celtic BioEnergy has started work on the construction of a new £20 million biowaste anaerobic digestion (AD) facility located next to the Severn Trent Water sewage works at Spondon in Derby.

The firm was awarded a contract to design, build and commission the new AD facility in February 2017 following a competitive tender process.

The plant will be similar in design to the company’s existing food waste plant in Coleshill and another which is nearing completion in Roundhill near Stourbridge.

The facility is designed to process 48,500 tonnes per annum of bio-waste sourced in the vicinity of Derby including food waste. This will result in a significant contribution to the diversion of the resource from landfill and harness the renewable energy potential that would otherwise be lost.

 The bio-waste will be supplemented with sustainable biomass, i.e. the plant will not process any conventional energy crops. The facility includes a thermo-pressure hydrolysis (TPH) pre-treatment process for the incoming waste to allow for high efficiency performance of the subsequent AD process. 

Pre-treated input substrates will be held in buffer tanks ahead of transfer to two primary digesters where the bulk of the biogas production will occur. From there the substrate will be transferred to a secondary digester where the final stabilization of the digestate will occur to achieve the PAS 110 standard.

Biogas produced will be upgraded to biomethane at the site and injected to the gas grid so that the biomethane can be utilized as a renewable source of energy for cooking and heating in Derby. The digestate will be utilized as a bio-fertilizer and soil conditioner on farms in Derbyshire.

The construction of the facility is due for completion at the end of 2017 with waste being initially received and processed in the spring of 2018.

The first injection of biomethane to the grid scheduled around the same time with full production expected in the summer of 2018.

Peter Ravenscroft, who is leading the project, commented:

"We're really excited to see work underway on what will be our third food waste site.

"The plant will take waste food from local businesses and waste management companies in the Derby area and process it to produce biomethane which is a gas suitable for injection into the local gas network and which can then be used in homes and businesses across the area.

"The process also makes sure that the food waste doesn’t end up going to landfill and any packaging that we remove at the plant will be sent for recycling.

"We've got more than 60 years of experience of turning sewage into clean energy, and we’re now putting that to good use in our food waste plants."