A £23 million anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, designed to run 100% on poultry litter, is to be built near Ballymena in Northern Ireland (NI).
Claimed to be the one of the first AD plants in the world which will be able to run on poultry litter alone, the plant will process 40,000 tonnes of NI poultry litter a year. According to the government, NI is currently producing 270,000 tonnes of poultry litter a year, a figure which is still rising, and is presenting a “significant environmental challenge”.
Part-funded by a government-backed Invest Northern Ireland loan of £7.4m and £1.3m equity backing under NI’s Sustainable Utilisation of Poultry Litter (SUPL) scheme, the development was announced today by NI economy minister, Simon Hamilton, and NI agriculture minister, Michelle McIlveen.
“This project has seen close collaboration between technology companies, government and funding bodies, including the Green Investment Bank,” said Ms McIlveen (pictured above). “It is a testament to our commitment to deliver a sustainable future for our agriculture sector.
“Projects such as this will play an important role in helping the poultry sector to address an environmental challenge.”
The development (Tully Centralised Anaerobic Digestion Plant) is being led by Stream BioEnergy and built by Xergi and local firm BSG. It’s due to be operational in 2017.
