Xergi to build plant that uses food waste to produce energy

Xergi has been appointed to build and operate Willen Biogas’s new 27,000tpa waste-to-energy plant in Enfield, north London.

The new plant will generate power from renewable sources for the grid and will make agricultural fertilizer by recycling nutrients from organic waste.

The biogas plant will extract energy from the large amounts of food that is wasted in London’s household every day and will also ensure that the nutrients are recycled for agricultural land, which will in turn make agriculture production around London greener.

Adrian Williams, Howard Williams, Brian Williams and Mark Lennon along with Foresight Group’s two managed investment funds Foresight Environmental Fund (FEF) and UK Waste Resources and Energy Investments Fund (UKWREI) are the shareholders of Willen Biogas.

The biogas plant will be built at Cattlegate Farm in Enfield, which is owned by D Williams & Co, the project developer.

Speaking about the project, Foresight partner Nigel Aitchison said: "This project is a welcome addition to the growing waste-to-energy infrastructure that is supporting London in its ambition to become a world leader in waste and recycling.

"This is the second project where both the Foresight Environmental Fund (FEF) and the UK Waste Renewable Energy Investments (UKWREI) have invested alongside each other to provide the majority of the equity and the first where they have provided the full project capital needed."

The contract will also involve Xergi delivering a turnkey-ready biogas plant to Willen Biogas.

Xergi will handle the commissioning and operation of the plant for the next two years.

The company will form a new organisation for efficient operation of the plant.

The plant will also feature a pre-treatment facility to separate plastic residues from organic waste.

An engine plant that can produce 1.5MW of electricity will also be installed at the facility.

The plant’s construction started in August this year and is expected to become fully operational by May 2016.