Vulcan Renewables Ltd

The Vulcan Renewables project comprises an anaerobic digestion plant located in Hatfield Woodhouse near Doncaster. The plant was commissioned in October 2013 and predominantly produces and upgrades biogas to be injected into the gas grid. The plant has a current capacity of c. 5MWth and it also has a 0.5MWe CHP engine which produces electricity and heat to meet the load of the facility, with residual electricity exported to the grid. The project is accredited both under the inflation-linked RHI government subsidy (in respect of biomethane exported to the gas grid) and the inflation-linked FiT (in respect of all electricity produced by the CHP engine). Green Gas Certificates are earned for biomethane which is injected into the grid. Vulcan is currently designed to process 40,000t/year of agricultural feedstock, comprised of mainly maize and supplemented with rye and grass during respective harvesting seasons, along with the occasional utilisation of beet. The plant also produces an organic digestate that is used by local farmers, displacing c. 2,000t of inorganic chemical fertilisers.

Project specifics

Acquisition date
August 2017

Acquisition price
£15.3 million

Plant description
c. 5MWth gas-to-grid agricultural fed AD plant with a 0.5MWe CHP engine to provide for the site

Operational date
October 2013

Revenue incentives
c. 80% Government-backed RPI pegged tariffs

– RHI, FiT

Feedstock
– Approximately 40,000t p.a.
– Mixture of maize, rye and beet

Site operator
Future Biogas (“FBL”)

– FBL originally developed the plant
– FBL operate a number of plants in the locality

 

Vulcan upgrade project

The Vulcan site currently has a Network Entry Agreement (“NEA”) allowing injection of up to 1,200m3/hour of biomethane. Since commissioning, the plant has run at gas output of c. 450-500m3/hour and therefore has sufficient headroom through the NEA to export more RHI eligible gas. In order to produce the additional gas, an upgrade project is being developed with Future Biogas to increase the facility’s output by converting one of the three tanks to form a third fermenter and to construct new digestate storage facilities. The works being considered will allow for a biomethane production of approximately 1,000m3/hour thereby leaving scope for further upgrades to fully utilise the NEA allowance.

The Vulcan plant is able to receive additional RHI tariff for additional generating capacity that a site extension can add to the existing facility, thereby making this upgrade project an economically attractive option.