Sweetcorn giant Barfoots of Botley’s spin-off energy company begins construction on its second anaerobic digestion plant in March with at least eight more planned for agricultural sites in southern England.

The 1.2MwH gas-fired CHP unit near Basingstoke in Hampshire will supply the National Grid with enough electricity for 2,000 homes, while heat and 25,000m3 of liquid digestate will be returned to landowner the Herriard Estate.

It is the first biogas plant built under a commercial model inspired by Barfoots’ experience of constructing and operating its own AD plant to dispose of 18,000t/pa of processed sweetcorn waste at Sefter Farm in West Sussex.

An early adopter of LEAF, Barfoots was looking for an environmentally sound and cost-efficient way of avoiding looming landfill charges being forced on it by NVZ restrictions – and realised what it had hit upon was a way to de-risk involvement in green power generation for other farmers and growers,

The light bulb moment came after it was forced to stump up nearly all of the £4.2 million needed to build the 2.3MW plant when banks refused to lend. “It was a brave move. It was a lot of money to spend,” says MD Julian Marks, who now also sits on the Barfoot Energy Projects board. “Barfoots ended up running the project themselves, which gave them flexibility to adapt, but it meant we took risks.” In less than three years the gamble has more than paid off and in a landmark move last summer BEP, created to take over day-to-day running of the plant, formally adopted the local electricity supply network. “We are 100 per cent energy self-sufficient and we’ve reduced our carbon footprint by 15,000t/pa. We use all our waste where it’s generated to create green energy that runs our factories and use all the fertiliser and soil conditioner,” says Marks.

“It’s also enhanced our relationship with our customers and enabled us to create a dialogue about sustainability that’s wider than AD,” he adds. “Effectively, it’s closed the loop for us and given us the opportunity to spin off something different to our core business.”

Producers keen to benefit from BEP’s offer of cheap electricity and limitless supplies of free heat and organic fertiliser must commit to grow at least 25 per cent of the feedstock required for a plant built on four acres of their land, under contract and in a rotation. The balance is made up with brought-in commercial food waste, for which BEP takes a gate fee. All of the digestate must be recycled on to the farm.

BEP builds, owns and operates the plant under a long-term rental agreement and there are royalties to be had for landowners from feed-in tariffs. But they must also buy into the BEP philosophy, fundamental to which is inclusion of a third catch crop grown for energy in a two-crop rotation and a commitment to limiting reliance on chemical fertiliser.

Marks adds: “For me, AD plants are all about enhancing agricultural sustainability, reducing carbon, artificial fertilisers and waste, and going back to the principles of rotation that they teach you on day one of agricultural college.” —