Waste to energy AD plant construction completed in UK

Tamar Energy has finished building its 2 MW food waste recycling facility.

The organics recycling firm has completed construction of its fourth anaerobic digestion (AD) waste to energy plant in the United Kingdom at Halstead in Essex, which is anticipated to start producing electricity by the end of July.

The company insists it will move ahead with its plans to build a national network of about 40 AD plants.

If its plans should work out, the estimated 40 plants would generate 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Tamar Energy is still insistent on bringing their goal to life, in spite of recent reports that highlighted a potential shortage of food waste feedstock in the future.

Once the 2 MW plant in Halstead is fully operational, it is anticipated to be able to handle 7,000 tons of food waste from households in Essex, as well as commercial food waste. In addition to having the capacity to process 45,000 tons of food waste annually and producing sufficient energy to power over 4,000 homes, the facility will generate a digestate fertilizer to be used for agricultural purposes.

Despite a recent report from consultancy Eunomia, which suggested the anaerobic digestion market had hit a “tipping point”, a Tamar spokesperson said that the company was not concerned about securing enough feedstock for its UK AD plants.

“Feedstock is something that all AD developers need to be aware of. We are confident we can meet that feedstock and that the customers are there. It is just about being innovative over feedstock and how you can find that,” the spokesperson said.

100 jobs were created during the construction of the Halstead waste to energy facility.

According to Tamar, 100 workers were employed throughout the building of the food waste recycling plant. The company’s CEO, Willie Heller, commented that finishing the construction of the facility “marks another important milestone” for the company. He added that during the entire process, an excellent focus was placed on health and safety and consideration was shown for the local community.

In January of this year, Tamar Energy signed its first local authority contract with Essex county council. This deal will result in the company treating 54,000 tons of garden and food waste from Essex’s thirteen waste collection authorities. The organic waste will be processed at the waste to energy plant in Halstead, at Tamar’s Basingstoke AD plant, and at three of the company’s composting plants in Suffolk, Essex and Bedfordshire.