Go-ahead given for £5.5 million anaerobic digester plant  (posted 13/03/2009)

A multi-million pound biogas plant in West Dorset which will turn pig slurry and organic waste into energy has been given the go-ahead.

Dorset County Council’s planning committee approved a proposal by Eco Sustainable Solutions to site an anaerobic digester (AD) on a 2.5 acre site at Bourne Park Estate, Piddlehinton.

Three new jobs will be created with the £5.5 million plant which is expected to be fully operational within two years.

The AD plant will be on land previously used for pig units. It will take in up to 12,000 tonnes of pig slurry and 25,000 tonnes of organic waste, such as food scraps, annually and use this to create methane gas.

The gas will be used to generate up to 700KW of electricity for supply to the national grid. The solid and liquid waste, both end products of the process, will be used as fertiliser and soil improver on local farms.

The plant includes a reception barn, pump and power house, two digester tanks and two main storage tanks. It is estimated up to nine HGV lorries will visit the site each day with waste and slurry from mainly West Dorset.

Trelawney Dampney, Eco’s Managing Director (pictured), said the new plant will help Dorset County Council achieve its waste reduction aims as well as contribute to the UK’s renewable energy targets.

He added: “The planning decision is very good news not least because it will help divert material away from landfill.

“We have to find an alternative fuel to oil. Generating energy from food waste is the most economically and environmentally sustainable way of doing it.”

Eco, which is based at Parley, was awarded an eight-year contract with Dorset County Council in 2008 to handle food, wood and green waste from across the county.

ENDS

Editor’s Note: Founded in 1994, Eco annually processes 150,000 tonnes of material on its 14-acre site at Parley, Dorset. End products include turf, enriched topsoil, compost and woodchip. The company, which employs 32 staff, was named KPMG Company of the Year in the 2008 Dorset Business Awards.

For more information please contact: Trelawney Dampney, Managing Director, Eco Sustainable Solutions, on 01202 593601 or Andrew Diprose, PR Account Director, Deep South Media on 01202 534487.