An £850,000 loan has been made to Emerald Biogas from the WRAP anaerobic digestion loan fund (ADLF).
This will help to boost food waste treatment in the north east, where there is a lack of processing facilities.
In addition to the WRAP loan, Emerald Biogas has secured £3.3 million finance from HSCB and a Rural Development Programme for England grant of £1.86 million.
In the first phase of development, the facility will generate 1.4MW from 53,000 tonnes of food waste. A second phase will then increase this to 70,000 tonnes of food waste with the output rising to 2.5MW.
Emerald Biogas director Ian Bainbridge said: “Emerald Biogas is the first commercial plant of this size in the region and we are delighted to have secured the funding and support to realise the project.
“By harnessing our knowledge of the food waste, agricultural and renewable energy industries and our proven track record in terms of collection and recycling, it was a natural progression for John Warren ABP and Agricore to diversify and use our expertise to create an AD facility capable of not only providing renewable energy but also digestate which can be utilised by the agricultural community.”
