The new 1MW plant will use 3500 tonnes of poultry litter a year when fully operational.
The plant follows the pioneering project at NFU member Nigel and Patrick Joice’s poultry unit in Norfolk which began in November 2012.
What changes were successfully lobbied by the NFU?
Previously the combustion of poultry litter was deemed a waste activity, and would require a permit under the Waste Incineration Directive (WID)/Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). WID and IED are designed for large-scale industrial waste incineration activities with very large monitoring and maintenance costs which prohibited the uptake of poultry litter combustion plants.
Through the trials undertaken on NFU member Nigel and Patrick Joice’s farm, Norfolk, it was proved that poultry litter should be regarded as a by-product rather than a waste when used to heat poultry housing. As such poultry combustion is controlled by the Animal By-Product Regulations with far fewer regulatory controls.
The change in rules came into force July 2014.
BHSL’s biomass burner uses Fluidised Bed Combustion technology, which qualifies for support under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. The plant supplies hot water which heats the sheds through a piping network
The plant provides numerous benefits as well as lower carbon emissions and energy costs. These include reductions in hock burn and pododermititis, drier litter to abate amenity issues, lower ammonia emissions and protection of local surface and groundwaters.
UK authorities have now got processes in place to enable them to approve further applications for this activity.