Anaerobic digestion industry labels Environment Agency charges hike‘ unjustified’
The Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association( ADBA), the UK’ s trade body for AD, has today labelled the proposals in the Environment Agency’ s( EA’ s) consultation on its Strategic Review of Charges as‘ unjustified’.
| Energy
T he changes proposed in the consultation include significant increases in the majority of charges associated with environmental permitting( including application fees and ongoing annual subsistence fees), which will have financial implications for all new and existing AD operators who operate under environmental permits in England. It is thought that in some cases, the increases will double the existing charge. The changes are due to be implemented from April 2018, just two months from the conclusion of the consultation period. Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of ADBA, said:
“ Whilst ADBA supports the need for a wellresourced, effective regulator, the proposed increases in the Strategic Review of Charges are extremely steep and their implementation date of April 2018 will be very challenging for AD operators to meet. As a matter of priority, we urge the EA to consider extending this implementation date or, as a minimum, adopt a phased approach, allowing both themselves and the industry to be fully prepared for any changes.
“ AD operators are already under increased financial pressure and even small cost increases will result in greater strain and could have a detrimental impact. Should the proposals lead to reduced enthusiasm in investing in the industry or limit operators’ ability to invest in their operations, this could be detrimental to the environment and to AD’ s ability to meet vital policy goals.”
ADBA’ s comments come after it submitted its response to the consultation last week.
The EA’ s consultation was published shortly before ADBA launched the new AD Certification Scheme, an industry-led initiative designed to support the AD industry to improve its operational, environmental, and health and safety performance, in December 2017. The
scheme gives AD operators the opportunity to demonstrate good practice in the running of their plants and has been welcomed by the EA, who called it‘ a positive intervention by the industry to improve performance in the anaerobic digestion sector’. Ms Morton added:“ We are working closely with the EA on our new AD Certification Scheme, which we believe will improve the AD industry’ s performance and justify reductions in annual subsistence fees for certified operators. Many of the scheme criteria are similar to those included in EA site audits, and this presents an opportunity to reduce the EA’ s regulatory effort. We look forward to working with the EA to monitor the scheme’ s impact and secure regulatory benefits for certified operators through‘ earned recognition’.”
Granville Ecopark becomes first UK AD plant certified under new performance scheme
Granville Ecopark, an award-winning enhanced anaerobic digestion( AD) facility based in Northern Ireland, has become the first AD plant in the UK to achieve certification under the recently launched AD Certification Scheme( ADCS), an industry-led initiative that recognises good operational, environmental, and health and safety performance at AD plants.
T he scheme was launched just six weeks ago at the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association’ s ADBA National Conference 2017 following a successful pilot earlier in the year involving three different AD plants. The ADCS has been developed in collaboration with a range of industry stakeholders including regulators, insurers, investors, and operators and is managed by ADBA, the UK’ s trade body for AD.
Granville Ecopark is the largest AD facility in Ireland taking only food waste as a resource and has capacity to export 4.8 MWe of renewable electricity onto Northern Ireland’ s local grid. Recent expansion now allows the plant to clean up excess biogas into biomethane, which is being transported all over Northern Ireland to power CHP engines and create renewable heat and electricity for its customers.
David McKee, Technical Director at Granville Ecopark, said:
“ We are delighted to be the first UK AD plant certified under this new scheme. It gives us the confidence that we are attaining the highest standards within the industry and will drive us forward to remain at the top. We hope that others will now follow in our footsteps and apply for certification to help boost their
www. farmingmonthly. co. uk environmental credentials and further highlight how important the AD industry is for the future of renewable energy throughout the UK.”
Nick Johnn, Director at Aardvark Certification Limited, the ADCS’ s official certification body, said:
“ We’ re delighted to announce Granville Ecopark as the first AD plant to be certified under the ADCS. Aardvark was proud to be appointed as the first and currently only certification body for the scheme, which we see as vital to assuring performance and raising standards in what is such an important industry. It was great to receive Granville Ecopark’ s application so soon after the ADCS was launched at the ADBA National Conference 2017 back in December, and this will hopefully be the first of many applications. We look forward to working with many more AD plants who are looking to demonstrate that they are meeting high operational, environmental, and health and safety standards.”
Charlotte Morton, ADBA Chief Executive, said:
“ To have the first plant certified under the ADCS just six weeks after the scheme was launched is hugely encouraging and shows the support within the AD industry for raising its performance across the board and recognising good practice in running plants. ADBA will continue to speak to AD operators about the
many benefits of the ADCS both for operators themselves and for the wider industry, including increased support from politicians, regulators, insurers, and investors.”
In September 2017 Granville Ecopark also became the first AD plant to obtain a Prosperity Agreement with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency whereby the two parties have pledged to work together to develop innovative solutions to maximise energy production and work with the community to deliver environmental initiatives. Amidst this success Granville Ecopark has also been recognised as Market Development leaders with a prestigious award from Sustainable Ireland for its work in food waste and the circular economy.
February 2018 | Farming Monthly | 29