Bio Capital Group, the UK’s largest producer of green energy using food waste, has acquired the High Hedley Biogas plant near Durham. The new acquisition will further improve Bio Capital’s ability to transform local food waste into renewable energy via Anaerobic Digestion (AD) across the North-East of England.

Located near Durham, the site has been acquired from WJ Drennan and is an Anaerobic Digestion site with a 25ktpa capacity, a Gas-to-Grid capability of 350m³ and a power output of 0.5 MW. This takes the total capacity of Bio Capital’s portfolio to over 500,000t per annum equivalent to the energy needs of a city such as York with circa 85,000 homes, powered by food waste.

The UK produces around 9.5M tonnes of food waste each year (equivalent to 25M tonnes of the greenhouse gas methane). Through its growing portfolio of plants and processing facilities across the UK, Bio Capital works with partners across the UK (including Northern Ireland) such as local authorities, food manufacturers and retail chains to reduce their carbon emissions by diverting their food waste from landfill and transforming it into biomethane and 100% renewable electricity, food grade CO2, CNG vehicle fuel and biofertiliser for local farms.

The site is currently dormant and Bio Capital will invest in the plant to bring it back into service over the course of 2025 into 2026 when it will be operational in time to coincide with significant additional capacity requirement in the North-East of England as the Government’s mandated Local Authority kerbside food waste collections come into effect from 31^st March 2026. The plant will operate under the management of Bio Capital’s Warrens Emerald Biogas team in nearby Newton Aycliffe.

Bio Capital’s General Manager – North George O’Malley said: “Bio Capital has gained significant experience and expertise owning, building and operating one of the largest and most advanced networks of AD sites across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The plant will provide additional low carbon, 100% renewable energy to the local area as well as green jobs.”

The acquisition of the High Hedley Biogas site, once operational, will give us the ability to handle significant additional tonnage expected in the North-East of England as a result of the Government mandated kerbside food waste collections coming into effect in 2026.

AD relies on a feedstock of biomatter which is fed into the large digesters where it is broken down in an oxygen free atmosphere to produce high performing, low carbon biogas. Readily available feedstock is essential for the consistent production of clean, renewable energy.

Biomethane from food waste has a vital role to play in the UK’s future energy mix. It is a 100% renewable, low carbon alternative to natural gas or LNG that is bolstering the UK’s energy needs as global energy costs rise and temperatures drop. While it releases some CO2 when burned (still far less than fossil fuels), it is technically carbon-neutral because the harmful methane emissions that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere when the food waste decomposes in landfill are captured and repurposed as an energy source.  Indeed Bio Capital have a policy to install CO2 recovery wherever practical at their AD facilities. As global energy costs continue to rise and unpredictable weather increases – resulting in extreme hot or cold spells – the case for increasing the UK’s biogas capability has never been stronger.