Farmgen, the UK’s leading specialist in ‘energy farming’, has signed a £30 million contract with manufacturer and installer Kirk Environmental to build a network of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants across the UK.
The move comes as Farmgen accelerates its national roll out of on-farm AD plants. The company’s first site at Carr Farm, Warton, Lancashire, is nearing completion, construction has started at its second plant at Dryholme Farm, Silloth, in Cumbria and a series of proposed plants are either in planning or about to be submitted for planning consent.
Last year Blackpool-based Farmgen announced plans for a major investment programme to create the biggest AD ‘energy farming’ expansion programme in the country.
Farmgen is the brainchild of Simon Rigby, the founder and former CEO of FTSE 250-listed utilities group Spice plc. He netted a £22m windfall last year when the utility services group Spice was sold to private equity investors Cinven for £251m and is backing Farmgen’s ambitious plan to set up AD plants on farms across the UK.
Marks and Spencer has signed a five-year, fixed price deal with Farmgen to buy the energy generated from its first plant, as part of its ‘Plan A’ commitment to procure more renewable energy from small-scale energy sources.
Now Kirk Environmental, which has already constructed all the tanks at Carr Farm, has been appointed construction partner to provide a full, turn-key build out programme for all of Farmgen’s new plants starting with their second plant at Dryholme.
Ed Cattigan, chief operating officer of Farmgen, said: “We are delighted to have agreed this landmark contract with Kirk Environmental. It marks a substantial investment in Britain’s rural economy, as we will be building AD plants on farms across the country, with the initial phase focusing particularly on Lancashire and Cumbria.
“Kirk Environmental have a strong track record in the sector and have already proven their expertise and capability in the first two plants currently under construction. We look forward to working with them on the new generation of plants, which is helping to transform the fortunes of hard-pressed farmers throughout the UK.”
Gary Little, chief executive officer at Kirk Environmental, added: “This represents one of the largest contracts in the company’s 100-year history.
“We are very pleased to be partnering with Farmgen and helping to create an ‘energy revolution’ for Britain’s farmers. It will give farmers a stronger and more sustainable future.
“All the team at Kirk Environmental are delighted with the progress that’s being made at Farmgen’s first site and we look forward to building similar on-farm AD plants across the UK.”
Farmgen is spearheading the growth of the on-farm AD sector. The Carr Farm site, which will supply enough electricity to power more than 1,000 homes, is now firmly on course to be generating electricity in the next couple of months.
Farmgen has also announced plans for its third plant in a ground-breaking move that could see it supplying power to a nearby open prison. The company is in talks to supply the Category ‘D’ open prison’s energy needs, using crops grown by inmates at its farms.
Kirk Environmental is part of a consortium of expert UK-based firms Farmgen has put together. It includes a number of leading members of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA), where Kirk is a founder member.
At Carr Farm the latest technology and know-how is being supplied to the project by leading UK process and technology business Monsal.
Other members of the project include engineering specialist Agrilek, which operates from Barrow-in-Furness and has been brought on board to connect the plant to the national grid and water-treatment experts Eimco Water Technologies, based in Tonbridge, Kent.
The new AD plants will use crops from fields surrounding the participating farms to create ‘biogas’, which is then used to generate electricity. Work to create Farmgen’s second AD plant at Silloth is expected to be completed later this year. AD plants are already commonplace across Europe – with around 4,000 operating in Germany alone.
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