In the United Kingdom (UK), BioCow Ltd has officially opened its 5 MW Ellough AD plant in Suffolk, UK. The plant delivers 1 100 Nm3 per hour of biomethane directly to the natural gas grid.
Located near Beccles, the GBP15 million (≈ EUR18.56 million) anaerobic digestion (AD) plant has now been officially opened and is set to create a “major opportunity for local farmers to diversify their income stream.”
Supplied by Netherlands-headed bioenergy and biogas technology providers HoSt, the plant has the capacity to use up to 85 000 tonnes per annum of locally grown feedstock crops such as silage maize, sugarbeet, and sugarbeet pulp to produce biogas.
The biogas is upgraded to biomethane and injected into the national gas grid for National Grid Gas Distribution Ltd as part of its commitment to secure 80 renewable gas projects by 2020
The 5 MW plant delivers 1 100 Nm3 per hour of biomethane, equivalent to 12 MW per hour of green energy directly into the gas grid making it the largest of its kind in the country.
The plant is equipped with four digestion tanks with a diameter of 26 metres, one post-digester, four solid feeding mixing/dosing bins, a gas-tight after-storage tank, an advanced pumping system, a flue gas cooler and two screw press separators for the treatment of the digestate.
The plant runs on power generated by its own 499 kWe gas-powered combined heat and power (CHP) generator.
