Prince opens UK’s first AD-to-grid power plant

The Prince of Wales has opened the UK’s first full-scale anaerobic digester and methane plant to provide energy to the grid on a farm in Dorset.

A joint venture between farmers around Dorchester and the Duchy of Cornwall will eventually see enough energy produced during the summer to power 56,000 new-build homes in the local community.

Opened by the Prince of Wales on Wednesday (21 November), the plant is the first in the UK to inject renewable gas directly into the local distribution network on a full-scale basis.

Set up to provide a renewable energy source for the Duchy’s development at Poundbury, a sustainable community built to the Prince’s architectural principles, the anaerobic digester at Rainbarrow Farm will produce biogas from 41,000t of maize, grass silage and food waste each year.

The fuel will be sourced from local farmer members of the venture, called J V Energen, as well as businesses, including Dorset Cereals and Express Potatoes in Weymouth. Digestate from the plant will be used to fertilise crops on local farms.

Simon Conibear, Dorchester Estate director for the Duchy of Cornwall, said: “This project is a major milestone for Poundbury, Dorchester and the Duchy of Cornwall and for the UK renewable energy industry.

“It is the result of exemplary collaboration with local farmers and producers of waste, and it will provide a substantial amount of renewable electricity and gas to houses and businesses on the development and further afield.”

Nick Finding, who farms in Martinstown and is a member of J V Energen, said energy crops were an important additional income for farmers in the region.

“Growing maize for the anaerobic digestion plant means we can produce much more energy per acre and we no longer have to send crops abroad to convert into biodiesel,” he added.