Energy Crops & AD
Our farm is home to one of the largest Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants in Cornwall, which provides 1MW of electricity to the National Grid, all through renewable, organic methods!
After 3 years of planning and 9 months of construction, the AD Plant started operating in 2016.
How does it work?
Our AD Plant is like a giant stomach, and it always needs feeding! We can’t put just anything in – it needs the right kind of food, in the right amounts, at the right time. Everything that goes in is broken down in a sealed, oxygen-free tank, whether it’s a crop, food waste or animal waste such as manure or slurry.
Our AD Plant needs constant monitoring and ‘topping up’ – we run the site 24/7, 365 days a year!
What goes in?
We grow and harvest most of the digestor’s food ourselves, working over 1,000 acres of land in Cornwall to grow energy crops that will be fed in over the year. This includes maize, sugar beet, rye and waste potatoes that aren’t good enough for customers.
Not everything goes in straight away – some crops and food sources need to be stored under cover in our silage clamps, where they ferment and break down before being fed into the digestor.
What comes out?
As crops and organic matter break down in the huge digestion chamber, they turn into a number of useful products:
- Biogas
- Solid digestate
- Liquid digestate
Biogas is used to create electricity and heat in two Combined Heat & Power (CHP) engines, which generate electricity for the National Grid.
Digestate is a powerful bio-fertiliser, which we use to fertilise future energy crops that are used in the digestor – this completes the cycle of growth, harvesting and feeding, providing us with a sustainable, renewable way of generating power!
It’s also easier to use than other fertilisers like compost and slurry – the super-concentrated digestate is packed with nutrients in ‘plant-available’ form, meaning a quick uptake after application.
Want to get involved?
We’re always looking for land to grow energy crops for our AD Plant, and because of our remote location in West Cornwall, we carry out most of the maintenance and servicing ourselves.
If you’d like to discuss land rental for cropping, see what we can offer you on the Land Rental page. For AD plant-related opportunities and careers, visit Join Our Team.
