The Environment Agency has granted a permit for BioConstruct New Energy Ltd to build a new Anaerobic Digestion plant at the Imperial Park industrial park in Middlesbrough.

The site has been designed to treat up to 300 tonnes per day of liquid and solid waste via anaerobic digestion. The liquid waste will arrive in sealed tankers and be pumped into one of the reception tanks via a stone trap where it is mixed /macerated.

Solid waste, in the form of seasonal green waste, will be received in an outside reception area to be loaded into the charging system for the digestion process.

Anaerobic digestion will take place in two primary ‘fermentation’ tanks where the waste is held for approximately 44 days and a ‘post fermentation’ tank, where it is held for approximately 21 days to ensure maximum biogas capture. The digestate waste will then be heat treated and pumped to one of the digestate storage tanks prior to onward recovery, (intended for use as a soil improver).

The biogas produced by the digestion process will subsequently be combusted in four combined heat and power gas engines, producing both heat for the digestion / pasteurisation process and electricity for export to the National Grid. The gas engines have a combined thermal input of 12.5 MWth and a combined electrical generating output of approximately 5 MWe.

The recovered heat will be utilised within the fermenter tanks, pasteurisation tanks and buildings on site.