Press Release - NNFCC Publishes Annual Anaerobic Digestion Deployment in the UK Report

York, 16th April 2018: Today we have published the fifth edition of our annual ‘Anaerobic Digestion Deployment in the UK’ report. The publication provides a detailed breakdown of the UK AD sector on both a national and regional basis, using primary data to offer an accurate reflection of industry output capacities and feedstock consumption.

A year has passed since we published our last report and the industry has demonstrated its resilience in a difficult market. Constant delays in the implementation of tariff reinstatements under the RHI has brought developments in the biomethane sector to a halt, with developers unwilling to commit to projects until the amended legislation is adopted. However, with the new regulations laid in Parliament in February and the hope they will be passed following the Easter recess, the light is very much at the end of the tunnel.

Meanwhile, the Feed-in Tariffs have suffered continued degressions and are now at an unviable level for most projects. This has resulted in a significant drop-off in the development pipeline with far fewer projects entering planning than witnessed in previous deployment years.

However, despite the policy turmoil we have witnessed 72 AD plants complete over this last year bringing the total number of operational plants outside the waste treatment sector to 473, with capacity to provide electricity to almost 900,000 households and gas supply to 250,000 homes.

Michael Goldsworthy, Senior Consultant at NNFCC says:

“It has been a frustrating year for developers, with the RHI being met with continuous delays. However, we have still seen steady progress in the industry, with over 70 plants completing since we published our fourth annual report last April. With the new RHI regulations and accompanying tariff reinstatements set to be implemented soon, we are hoping to see excellent progress over the forthcoming 12 months.”

“As we look further ahead, the future for AD in the UK is less certain with the FiTs due to close to new entrants in 2019 and the RHI expected to end the year following. However, there continue to be excellent new opportunities for the sector, with the RTFO setting ambitious targets for liquid and gaseous biofuels to 2020 and enduring support through to 2032. With biomethane receiving a higher level of support than many other fuels, we expect the transport sector to be an exciting area of growth for the industry. We are already providing guidance to clients on the opportunities in the transport market and have just published a calculator for developers to understand the level of support they can expect to receive under the obligation.”