The new extension will double the size of the plant in Doncaster, making it the largest food waste anaerobic digestion plant in the UK to date, according to Britcon. The facility, which already employs 35 people, will create a further 30 new jobs across administrative, operations and maintenance.
In December 2013 ReFood secured planning consent to accept 160,000 tonnes of food waste at Doncaster that would otherwise go to landfill. The plant will generate electricity through combined heat and power and will have a total capacity of up to 5MWh, which will be fed into the national grid. A nutrient-rich liquid fertiliser will also be produced by the anaerobic digestion process and will be used by farmers in the local area to grow new crops.
Britcon secured the principal contractor role following successful completion of the initial £6 million build programme for the ReFood anaerobic digestion plant in 2011. It also played a lead role in delivering ReFood’s second £20 million anaerobic digestion plant in Widnes in 2013 which is due for completion this month.
Britcon is undertaking earthworks, piling operations, ground works, and construction of specialised structures, including high-rise, reinforced concrete digester tanks as well as a number of process structures to support and enhance the existing operational plant. It will also deliver external and finishing works and coordination of process plant installations all to ReFood’s high and exacting standards.
“We selected Britcon as principal contractor for our first UK plant in 2011, and the partnership has proved extremely successful," said Paul Morris, operations director at ReFood. "The Britcon team is very skilled in providing the resources needed for anaerobic digestion construction and has been able to deliver a complete project solution from managing complex earthworks through to building highly specialist structures compliant with our sustainability agenda. Britcon is now a valued partner working with us across a number of UK projects.”
Work has started on site and the contract is expected to be completed for handover in just six months.