Nestlé Fawdon plant saves 200kW on Clearfleau AD bioenergy 27 November 2014

Industrial anaerobic digestion (AD) plant firm Clearfleau – which specialises in on-site renewable energy and won this year's Waste Treatment Project Award at the Sustainability Leaders event – has revealed the scale of energy savings that can be achieved.

The award was for Clearfleau's AD-based bioenergy plant on Nestlé's Fawdon confectionery site, near Newcastle upon Tyne, which converts trade effluent and residual confectionery bi-products and ingredients (1,200 tonnes per year) into energy.

Power generated from biogas is used in confectionery production, cutting energy and disposal costs while also reducing the site's carbon footprint.

One year after commissioning, this bioenergy plant is now converting a total of 200,000 litres per day of feedstock into biogas, which in turn generates 200kW of electricity.

Nestlé's head of sustainability Inder Poonaji says this represents 8% of the factory's power requirements, and has cut its annual electricity bill by £100,000 per annum.

In addition, the site has registered for the Feed in Tariff, and will receive annual payments of about £250,000 per annum.

Previously, production residues from Fawdon, the former Rowntree factory, were just discharged to sewer or fed to pigs in the locality.

"We chose an innovative British bio-energy technology provider because we wanted a partner with experience who would design a plant to meet our specific needs," states Poonaji.

"On-site treatment of production residues will help us reduce the wider environmental impact of our business and meet our sustainability goals," he continues.

"By working with Clearfleau, we continue to reduce our carbon footprint and generate value from food production residues."

Key reasons why Clearfleau's design was chosen include its high-rate liquid based digestion system, he says, which uses an innovative and robust solids-processing system, together with its compact design to fit on the edge of the factory car park.

Payback on Nestlé's investment in the AD plant is predicted at four to five years.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Clearfleau Ltd
Nestle Confectionary Ltd

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