York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership – Dry Anaerobic Digestion Feasibility Study

York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (the “LEP”) released a funding opportunity through its Local Growth Fund for low carbon projects across the North and East Yorkshire regions. Objectives of the funding including the delivery of resilient and resource efficient infrastructure, supporting the transition to a carbon constrained future, building a world leading circular bio-economy cluster, and attracting bio-based inward investment. Through this funding opportunity, WRM were commissioned to carry out feasibility studies concerning the potential implementation of Anaerobic Digestion (AD) technologies for three clients based in the York and North Yorkshire Region.

In order to conduct a full appraisal of the project as a future business opportunity, the project was broken down into a number of distinct workstreams:

• Feedstock Assessment – An assessment undertaken to evaluate the quantity, composition and character of materials received by each site, and the feedstock’s potential suitability for AD.
• Mass balance and Plant Sizing: The analysis of the incoming feedstock was supporting by a mass balance and plant sizing exercise, comprising the calculation of process inputs, outputs and nominal plant capacity required to process the identified feedstock.
• Project Specification and Supplier Engagement – Upon completion of the feedstock and plant sizing assessment, WRM produced a reference plant specification design, which provided the basis for inviting suppliers to quote against the specification.
• Financial Model Construction – WRM collated all revenue and cost values collated throughout the work and consolidated these in a comprehensive financial model that delivered a qualitative assessment on the financial viability of each of the three plants.
• Project Risk Assessment – A risk assessment was undertaken to understand the qualitative risks that could be associated with the deliverability of the project. The risk assessment considered matters including but not limited to planning and environmental permitting requirements, grid connection capability, commissioning and maintenance and health and safety.

The full suite of findings from the feasibility studies were presented in consolidated reports provided to each client. Each report included an overall assessment of the opportunity based on the workstreams delivered, thereby allowing each client to assess the potential for the project as a future business opportunity.