Plans for a biodigester at an eight-hectare site on a village estate have been lodged.
Farm Biomethane Limited has applied to Suffolk County Council for the anaerobic digestion plant on land north of Barrow Clump Farm, off the B1106 in Elveden, near Dukes Ride, which would treat around 98,500 tonnes of waste energy crops and by-products a year.
The land is part of the Elveden Estate and the 8.61 hectare space proposed for the plant is at the southern edge of an existing field, the northern part of which is being used for a new farm reservoir.
Farm Biomethane Limited has applied to Suffolk County Council to create a biodigester on Elveden Estate land off the B1106. Picture: Google Maps
A planning statement said the biodigester would produce 1,000 cubic metres of biomethane a day for injection into the National Grid through a high-pressure gas main at the north of the site.
It would also have a 1.2 to 1.4 megawatt combined heat and power unit to generate electricity and recover waste for on-site use.
The plant will produce 100 per cent biogas, which will be upgraded by removing 46 per cent carbon dioxide, leaving 54 per cent biomethane.
The COâ‚‚ would be stored or utilised.
Alongside the biomethane, the anaerobic digestion process produces digestate, a by-product suitable for use as a fertiliser, which would be used by the estate.
Farm Biomethane Limited, the applicant, has worked alongside Elveden Farms Limited, which runs the Elveden Estate, on the plans.
The plant would be able to process feedstocks sourced from the EFL’s holdings, as well as from outside the estate.
In total, 40 per cent would come from EFL and 60 per cent from outside suppliers.
This would include around 20,000 tonnes of brewer’s grains, which would be transported to the site on public roads.
It is anticipated there would be 4,278 two-way HGV trips to the site on the public road network per year.
There would be more trips between April and July, accounting for the seasonal variation in feedstocks.
The plant would be comprised of three digesters, one post digester, three silage clamps and other associated infrastructure including a site office, weighbridge, slurry storage, a transformer, odour control unit and a reception building.
Lorries would access the site via the B1106, and the A11 is less than two miles north of the site.
The site itself was chosen as it was next to a gas main, so the plant can be directly connected to the pipeline to pump the biomethane and minimise the impact on the road network, the planning statement said.
The plant would be operational at all times, but only accept deliveries between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday.
It is expected three staff would be on site each day.
Farm Biomethane Limited lists SAS Swing Biomethane, a French limited liability company, as one of its directors, with its address in Paris.
Another director, Thomas Stephane Nathan Cuingnet, has the same correspondence address.