Ofgem senior leadership visits East London Biogas

Ofgem senior leadership visits East London Biogas

20 August 2026 – Dagenham, London – Senior leaders from Ofgem, including Interim Chief Executive Tim Jarvis, last week (Thursday 13 August) visited East London Biogas in Dagenham, the anaerobic digestion plant operated by Bio Capital. The visit was organised by the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA), the trade association for the UK biogas and biomethane industry.

East London Biogas was the first anaerobic digestion facility built inside the M25 and sits on a 4.7 acre site on the London Sustainable Industry Park. It can treat up to 70,000 tonnes of food waste a year at a capacity of 3.56MW, turning food waste collected from London and Essex households and businesses into renewable energy and PAS 110 accredited biofertiliser for local farmers. 

The visit gave Ofgem‘s leadership the opportunity to see the technology operating at scale in the heart of the capital, and for ADBA and Bio Capital to discuss the regulatory and market conditions the sector needs to deliver more renewable energy, more recycled nutrients and deeper cuts in methane emissions.

Senior officials from DESNZ as well as other ADBA members joined the site visit to learn more about the work going into the drive the growth of biogas and biomethane across the UK, and in particular, in the capital.

Chris Huhne, Chair of ADBA, said: “Anaerobic digestion is one of the fastest and lowest cost ways to cut emissions, and it does three jobs at once by dealing with food waste, generating green energy and returning nutrients to the soil. We were pleased to welcome Ofgem’s leadership to East London Biogas to see that in action, and to set out what the industry needs from regulators and policy makers to grow.”

Tim Jarvis, Chief Executive of Ofgem, said: “Ofgem plays a key role in supporting the administration of the Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive and Green Gas Support Scheme, on behalf of government. These schemes are intended to support the uptake of low carbon heating technologies and increase the proportion of green gas to the grid.

Hearing directly from industry helps us better understand real-world experiences, day-to-day operations and challenges, and see the impact of the schemes we administer in practice. The visit provided valuable insight into the delivery challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the sector.”

David McKee, Chief Executive of Bio Capital, said:

“We’re proud to have hosted leaders from Ofgem, ADBA and DESNZ at Bio Capital’s East London Biogas site, to show them first-hand the operating plant and discuss the future growth of anaerobic digestion and biogas in the UK.

Visits like this provide an important opportunity to strengthen collaboration between industry, government and regulators. As the sector continues to grow, our collective responsibility is to ensure that growth is sustainable, innovative and underpinned by the highest standards. 

At Bio Capital, we are committed to investing in technical innovation and operational excellence, helping to drive industry best practice while demonstrating the increasingly important role anaerobic digestion will play in the UK’s future energy system and the delivery of Net Zero.””

-ENDS-

For further information, contact:

Cameron Ball, External Affairs Lead, ADBA
e: cameron.ball@adbioresources.org; tel: +44 7964 663710

Notes to editors

About ADBA

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

About the AD industry 

• There are currently over 750 AD plants operational across the UK
• The entire industry digests approximately 36 million tonnes of organic material 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 2050, the UK AD and biogas industry is expected to:
  • produce over 100TWh of biomethane
  • provide between 20% and 50% of UK gas demand
  • create 60,000 jobs (30,000 direct and 30,000 indirect).
  • save the UK 27 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent – equivalent to taking 1/3rd of all cars off the road
  • heat 6.8 million UK homes with the 8 billion m3 of biomethane generated

How AD works

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the natural breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen in a container called a digester. The process extracts the energy this material contains in the form of biogas leaving the remaining organic matter called digestate – a stable, nutrient-rich substance used as a biofertiliser which restores soil health. Organic wastes typically treated through AD include food waste, animal manures and slurries, other agri-wastes, food & drink processing wastes, sewage sludge.