(L-r) East Midlands Development Agency skills and communities director Andrew Morgan, Dan Norris MP, Branston project director Vee Gururajan and Richard Barker chief executive officer of Biogen Greenfinch

(L-r) East Midlands Development Agency skills and communities director Andrew Morgan, Dan Norris MP, Branston project director Vee Gururajan and Richard Barker chief executive officer of Biogen Greenfinch

DEFRA parliamentary under secretary Dan Norris visited fresh produce supplier Branston Ltd to gain an insight into how the company turns waste potatoes into electricity.

Norris, who has a special responsibility for sustainable development, rural affairs and waste recycling, visited the Lincolnshire firm in a tour of the Midlands, stopping at companies expanding into green technology.

The Branston anaerobic digestion plant (AD), which is due to launch in the summer, is part of the company’s £2 million investment in green technology. Branston has also upgraded its water management system, as well as introducing a range of other energy-saving initiatives.

The plant, built by BiogenGreenfinch, and the water recycling facilty, built by MSE Systems Ltd, received a £568,000 grant from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), which is funded by DEFRA and the EU and delivered by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda).

Norris said: “It has been great to visit Branston and see how they will be using potatoes that would otherwise have been thrown away as a valuable resource to provide power.

“Anaerobic digestion is an innovative technology that reduces greenhouse gases and could power more than two million homes. I’m pleased to see how through RDPE grants, DEFRA has helped food producers like Branston diversify and become more sustainable.”

The integrated approach of generating power from waste and water recycling will save Branston 40 per cent on electricity and 60 per cent on water at the site, as well removing an HGV load of out grade potatoes off the road each day, according to Branston’s projects director Vee Gururajan.

He said: “The AD plant, along with the new water recycling facility, will also help reduce utility costs and will help the environment by reducing fossil fuel use.

“Branston will be using potatoes which are unfit for consumption to transform into energy. We are the first potato company in the UK to harness such innovative technology. As well as being incredibly efficient, the digestion plant will be safe, quiet and odourless.”

Norris also visited CallConnect in Metheringham and the Centre of Renewable Energy in Retford.

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