Hundreds of UK green gas plants at risk of closure

Hundreds of UK green gas plants at risk of closure

Hundreds of small green gas plants in the UK are set to close by 2031 with the loss of 2 terawatt hours of clean electricity to the grid – enough clean electricity to power around 500,000 homes[1].

The closures have been revealed in a survey of members undertaken by the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) – the organisation representing green gas in the UK.

The shutdown will take place over the next few years as old support schemes for green gas end, and operators are unable to justify maintaining and replacing worn-out equipment like combined heat and electric power units (CHP).

“These closures will make the Government’s goal of clean power by 2030 all the more difficult, as Energy secretary Ed Miliband will be running up the down escalator”, said Chris Huhne, chairman of ADBA and former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. “His department now needs to look at how to keep these plants on the system and producing valuable clean electricity”

ADBA has mapped out the number of green gas plants that will come off support schemes like the Feed-in Tariff (FITS) and the Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) over each year for the next ten years as the schemes end.

Dr Gareth Mottram, ADBA Policy Lead, explained: “Some plants have already closed even before the end of support schemes because the operators could not justify the investment in expensive replacement equipment such as new Combined Heat and Power units or refurbishing digester tanks.  A new CHP unit costs upward of £250,000 and businesses simply cannot make that investment without the prospect of a reasonable return on their capital.

“With the end of support, these closures are going to accelerate dramatically over the next few years. Based on ADBA’s figures, more than 160 plants will be coming to the end of support in the next five years, and over 400 in the following five years. DESNZ appears to be waking up to the risks, as a survey of scheme participants has just been launched to assess their plans for the end of support. We urge them to adopt a transitional measure to ease the cliff edge end of the ROCs and FITS.” said Dr Mottram.

This issue and the outlook for the anaerobic digestion and green gas sector overall will be discussed at the ADBA National Conference in London on 11 December.

For further information and to speak to Chris Huhne or Dr Gareth Mottram, contact:
Jocelyne Bia, Head of Corporate Communications, PR and Brand Management, ADBA
e: jocelyne.Bia@adbioresources.org
t: +44 (0)203 3176 0592

Notes to editors:

• The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) is the trade association for the UK anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas industry. ADBA’s vision is to see the full potential of the UK AD industry realised so it can help the UK achieve its emissions targets and other policy goals, creating a truly circular economy. www.adbioresources.org

• Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a ready-to-use technology which transforms organic wastes such as food and agricultural waste, sewage, manure, and slurries into biogas/biomethane, a biofertiliser called digestate, bio-CO2 and other valuable bioresources for application in the energy, agriculture, and transport sectors. How AD works.

• About the UK AD industry

• • There are currently 756 AD plants operational in the UK
  • The entire industry digests approximately 36 million tonnes of organic waste each year – organic material that would otherwise emit greenhouse gases including highly potent methane, if left untreated in landfill.
  • An estimated 21TWh of biogas is produced each year by the AD industry – this green gas is either used to generate electricity and heat via a combined heat and power (CHP) unit or upgraded to biomethane and injected directly into the national gas grid.
  • The industry currently delivers savings of 1% off the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions every year.
  • An estimated 4,800 people are currently employed in the AD and biogas industry in the UK.
  • Overall the industry grew by 5 per cent last year as the closure of older, smaller plants was outweighed by big-scale units feeding into the gas grid.
  • Fully deployed, by 2030, the UK AD and biogas industry expected to

• • • create 30,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs.
    • save the UK 27 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent = taking 1/3rd of all cars off the road, by 2030.
    • heat 6.8 million UK homes with the 8 billion m3 of biomethane generated

[1] https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/average-gas-and-electricity-usage