Clearfleau, the company behind the project intends to use the bio-methane gas to power 40 percent of all homes in the local area; the remaining gas will go back into powering the creamery itself.
Lake District Biogas will run the First Milk Aspatria plant for 20 years and will be the first Anaerobic Digestion (AD) dairy plant in Europe to feed bio-methane into the gas grid that has been generated by cheese.
Clearfleau commissions cheese-to-biogas plant in England — SeeNews Renewables https://t.co/u2R3JdfiV4 pic.twitter.com/YkR0UxkNo5
— Clearfleau (@Clearfleau) 8 April 2016
Eighty percent of the biogas produced each hour will be injected into the national grid, 60 percent will be used in the creamery to generate steam. The rest will be used by local businesses and homes in Aspatria, a small town in Cumbria.
"This project, generating biogas solely from creamery residues is based on British engineering and is transforming the way in which the dairy industry manages its residues," Craig Chapman, head of Clearfleau Limited said.
https://t.co/mfj6kxDLRn gas to grid plant for dairy sector — just effluent & whey (no crops) DECC / DEFRA must support AD in dairy industry
— Richard Gueterbock (@LiquidAD) 12 April 2016
Storm Desmond caused severe flooding and damage in Cumbria in December 2015, where more than 2,500 homes were left without power. Commenting on the potential project to turn whey into energy, Gordon Archer, chairman of Lake District Biogas said:
"Completion of this £10 million [US$14,3m] project on time, given the weather conditions in Cumbria this winter, has been a major achievement for the project team and Clearfleau."
The operation in the north of England is scheduled to start next month.
