Transforming delivery of anaerobic digestion in the United Kingdom
July 09, 2024
With a rising amount of food being wasted, how can we meet the demand for anaerobic digestion facilities across the country?
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We waste more than 9.5 million tonnes of food in the UK every year. It mostly ends up rotting in landfill. There, it produces climate-warming methane gas—approximately 5.5 percent of our national GHG emissions. Weekly food waste collections, required by law for every household in England by 2026, aim to tackle the problem.
Until we get to the point where all food produced is used, goals to eliminate food waste from landfill are a quick win. For the planet and for net zero targets.
But how do we make the most of the additional recovered waste?
Government’s preferred solution is anaerobic digestion (AD). The process uses microorganisms to turn food waste into heat, electricity, or biogas. The UK’s existing fleet of over 700 AD plants process around 3.2 million tonnes of food waste a year. It’s often in combination with other feedstocks ranging from animal slurry to brewery waste.
It’s expected that the new weekly collections will recover an extra 5 million tonnes a year of food waste. Delivering a fleet able to cope with this increase isn’t simple, and traditional project delivery methods won’t help. The industry needs to embrace multi-contractor delivery models that share risks among parties and improve efficiency. This will help usher in the next generation of higher volume, more complex anaerobic digestion plants the UK needs.
How can we increase efficiency in the race to build new AD plants?
Breaking down the problem
Our team is supporting the energy-from-waste sector in designing assets and increasing efficiency at the same time. We estimate the UK could require up to 120 new AD facilities in the next eight years to meet government targets. But the design, build, and operation of these plants is incredibly complex.
It was mostly EPC companies (or engineering, procurement, management) that delivered the existing fleet. In this model, the principal contractor had responsibility for an entire project and delivered it for a single price. This process went from initial design through construction and completion.
A perception of lower risk profiles for the purchaser made the approach preferable for investors. But it also meant a lot of risk sat within one EPC company, which had to guarantee costs, programme management, deliverables, and performance of the plant.
There were plenty of other issues, too. For example, unreliable feedstock supply, plant capacity, energy generation or use, digestate quality, and liquor discharge quality have all troubled the industry in recent years. This resulted in many problems. These include developers going bankrupt or selling off sites, an increase in biodegradable waste sent to incineration, and stalled market development.
With an expected capital expenditure of around £3 billion for the build-up of new food-waste facilities, the existing EPC companies now have the will and ability to deliver these projects. EPC facilities will likely come with large premiums and highly concentrated risk profiles would mean large markups passed on to clients.
Achieving growth with a better model
The biggest challenge is adding innovation while making sure every element of an anaerobic digestion facility works together. Unlike the single contractor system, EPCM (engineering, procurement, construction management) can break down works into separate packages as needed. While this type of contract isn’t new, I believe that pivoting to this model at this moment in the industry will help create significant cost savings, while opening up the use of multiple contractors.
The EPCM model effectively controls risk for everyone involved. That’s if all the planning and checks are done correctly before contracts are given. An experienced professional manages the whole project and oversees multiple contracts. This setup is more client friendly as it’s not limited to one contractor’s suppliers. It offers better control, coordination, and project management—all backed by technical know-how.
Increasing capacity for anaerobic digestion design and delivery will be tough. This is happening while the UK is also undertaking major tasks like re-wiring the power grid, dealing with combined storm overflows, and striving to become carbon neutral.
We need a lot of engineers and construction workers for these projects. And that’s before we add new anaerobic digestion facilities. The unique requirements for designing, commissioning, and optimising food waste facilities will create a demand for experienced workers that exceeds supply. So, we must focus on efficiency.
Food waste presents challenges and opportunities.
I believe that to successfully build an anaerobic digestion fleet that meets Government goals and deadlines, the markets need to change and adapt quickly. More specifically, upfront work to get projects off on the right foot will lead to success. This includes optimising site selection and decisions on delivery methodologies that help minimise delays and cost overruns.
It’s crucial to find the right support for making smart, long-lasting decisions. This includes everything from planning to commissioning and upgrades. These decisions will help solve common market problems and push the UK towards a greener future.
I’ve seen how EPCM delivery can help manage and reduce risk. Projects, like the one at the Basingstoke AD facility, show how we can improve efficiency and help clients seize new opportunities as they appear.
The UK must urgently grasp more efficient methods of delivering energy from waste infrastructure. Refocusing our efforts to EPCM delivery will go a long way to help.