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UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) and Foresight have committed to invest £1.7 million in the construction of an Anaerobic Digestion plant in Northern Ireland.
The plant, which will be built and operated by a Northern Irish engineering company, has been developed by a local farming family and KPMG (Belfast).
Once operational it is expected to generate around 3,600 MWh of renewable electricity – enough to power 850 homes and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
The investment is being made through the Foresight-managed Recycled and Waste LP (RAW) fund, in which GIB is a cornerstone investor alongside another investment of £1.7 million by SQN Capital Management.
Digestate produced by the plant – around 18,500 tonnes annually – will be used as fertiliser on local fields whilst also generating a biogas that will produce renewable electricity from silage, slurry, chicken litter and beet.
Foresight announced today that they were “thrilled” with the investment into small-scale anaerobic digestion, which reflects the “continuing demand for AD and the growing pipeline of opportunities for our investors”.
As the third such plant the firms have backed, with two others located in County Tyrone and County Down, GIB hopes that the investments will help rural businesses to save money. Head of investment banking for the firm, Ed Northam, says: “Investing in anaerobic digestion encourages rural businesses to be self-sufficient, reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and diverting organic waste from landfill.
“The process creates energy generators out of those who would otherwise just be energy users, giving them the ability to make money by exporting electricity and producing fertilisers while simultaneously saving them money. Northern Ireland has once again proven that it is awake to that opportunity.”
SQN Capital Management described anaerobic digestion as a “growth area” and stated that they would continue to look for further opportunities within it.
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