Olleco, the renewables division of ABP, has announced the acquisition of an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility at Westcott Park, Buckinghamshire from Renewi plc, a waste-to-product business, for an undisclosed sum.
The facility has capacity to process 96,000t of food waste each year and produce up to 3.2 Mw of green electricity and 4.8Mw of renewable heat enough to power 6,000 homes.
Commenting on the acquisition, Robert Behan, managing director of Olleco, said: “Olleco is delighted to make this acquisition, which will provide added capacity and improve the service we provide to our 50,000 customers across the UK.
“The move will also complement our existing operations in nearby Aylesbury and in Liverpool,” he added.
“Today’s announcement is another practical example of the circular carbon economy in action.”
The company employs over 600 people in 15 locations across the UK.
Wastewater to energy technology roll-out
In other ABP news, a carbon-neutral, energy-positive wastewater treatment technology, developed by Irish firm NVP Energy, is now being rolled out at food and beverage plants across the world, following a successful trial at an ABP production site.
NVP Energy is a wastewater technology developed at NUI Galway and pioneered by ABP Food Group, which generates renewable electricity from a form of anaerobic digestion (AD).
NVP Energy’s ‘low temperature anaerobic digestion’ technology impressed ABP, which embarked on a trial project with the firm at its Lurgan site to test if the energy positive waste-to-methane gas technology could be successfully deployed commercially.
Today, the treatment plant at Lurgan processes the entire flow of wastewater produced on the site, turning that waste into biogas energy, ideally suited for heat and electricity generation – enough to offset ABP Foods’ gas usage on site by 40%.