Digester plant gets green light in Scotland

Scottish anaerobic digestion plants convert organic waste into biogas and renewable energy, boosting waste-to-energy capacity in West Lothian and Barkip, with SSE, Zero Waste Scotland, Banks Developments, and Scotwaste driving the circular economy.

Scotland's largest anaerobic digestion AD facility has been given the go-ahead by the planning authorities in West Lothian.

The news arrives just as Scottish and Southern Energy plc SSE and government partner Zero Waste Scotland announced plans for another large AD plant at a former landfill site in Barkip, North Ayrshire, amid moves such as the UK-approved waste-burning plant elsewhere in the sector.

West Lothian has granted permission to Banks Developments and recycling firm Scotwaste to build a 4-megawatt MW AD plant, similar to Drax's biomass plant clearing planning hurdles in England, that will be capable of handling about 105,000 tonnes of waste every year. The facility will be part of the wider £70 million US $102 million Pond Green Energy Park, which is located southwest of Bathgate. At full capacity, the plant will provide enough electricity to power more than 7,000 homes and enough heat for about 9,000 homes.

The decision follows, as with two proposed EfW facilities elsewhere in the UK, two years of consultation and planning.

"This decision is a landmark in the drive to deliver Scotland's Zero Waste Strategy across the country," said Colin Anderson, managing director of Banks Property Development Limited. "Pond Green Energy Park provides West Lothian and the wider Central Belt with a local solution to its own waste, as well as delivering renewable energy to fuel businesses and homes, thereby supporting economic growth. We hope to commence construction during 2011, with the facility coming online in 2012."

SSE's proposed AD facility in Barkip will be capable of processing 75,000 tonnes of organic waste annually, which will generate 2.5 MW of renewable electricity from captured biogas. SSE is investing £13.5 million US $1.46 million in the project with another £2.2 million US $3.2 million coming from Zero Waste Scotland through the Organics Capital Grants programme.

Scotland's environment secretary, Richard Lochhead, commented: "This major investment helps place anaerobic digestion at the heart of waste policy and emphasizes the importance of renewable energy and early projects like the UK's first wood-fuelled power station emerging across the UK. The £2.2 million grant to SSE demonstrates a robust commitment by the Scottish Government to invest in the future of a zero-waste Scotland."

SSE's partner on the project is waste-management firm William Tracey Group, which has been contracted to supply the feedstock, which will comprise 37,000 tonnes of food waste along with manures and organic effluent sludges.

"Biogas has the potential to be one of the most important new-generation renewable and sustainable energy solutions available to us, capturing the energy contained in waste," said SSE Chief Executive Ian Marchant. "SSE is excited about entering the biogas market, which we believe offers opportunities beyond on-site electricity generation to include connections to the gas-distribution network in the future, even as carbon-capture funding accelerates nationally."

Last July, the green light for the construction of the UK's largest AD plant was granted by North Yorkshire County Council to the Selby Renewable Energy Park, owned by Whites Renewable Energy. The plant will sit on the site of the former Tate & Lyle Citric Acid Plant in Selby, echoing a biomass plant at an unused paper mill project, and will generate 8 MW of energy by treating 165,000 tonnes of food waste per year. The electricity generated will power almost 11,000 homes.

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