ADBA estimate multimillion financial opportunity for on-farm AD

According to the trade body for the AD industry there are “multi million pound financial opportunities” for on-farm anaerobic digestion (AD) plants located around the UK.    

On-farm AD plants permit farmers to convert agricultural wastes and purpose-grown crops into renewable heat and power as well as nutrient rich biofertiliser. Across the UK there are 334 AD plants currently using agricultural feedstocks which has risen from the 66 who were in 2016.   

Chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA) Charlotte Morton has said that, “There are multi million pound opportunities in refinancing and upgrading the over 300 on-farm AD plants now operating across the UK to make these plants more efficient and deliver greater financial and environmental value. We estimate that the value of operational expenditure on all UK on-farm AD plants will be £150 million per annum by 2020.”

The agricultural sector has now overtaken both the wastewater and food waste sector to become the largest in the AD industry due to the number of plants as well as energy capacity. 54 new AD plants were commissioned in 2017 and over three quarters of them were agricultural plants.