Farmgen eyes prison deal
GREEN energy business Farmgen has unveiled plans for a new £3m green energy plant in Lancashire in a move that could see it supply power to a nearby open prison.
The company – which says it is investing £30m to create the biggest anaerobic digestion (AD) expansion programme in the UK – has earmarked a farm next to Kirkham Prison, near Preston, for its third plant.
Farmgen is in discussions to supply the prison’s with energy, using crops grown by inmates at its farms. A planning application has been submitted by Farmgen for the site at Cooper House Farm, Freckleton. The generating capacity of the site could be up to 2MW in size – making it Farmgen’s biggest operation so far.
Construction at the company’s first £3m farm-based plant at Carr Farm in Warton is underway and on schedule to start generating energy in the spring. Work has also started on the construction of a second Farmgen operation at Dryholme Farm, near Silloth, in Cumbria.
Ed Cattigan, chief operating officer said: “As our initial site at Carr Farm is well underway, we are actively looking at new sites to develop more farm-based AD plants, using our Warton site as a blueprint.
“The reason we have chosen this site is that it is next to Kirkham Prison and we are currently in talks with them about supplying heat energy, with the potential that they supply the plant from their farming operations.
“The fact we are talking to the prison service, among others, about their supply needs, shows just how much interest there is in this form of green energy production.”
Farmgen was founded earlier this year by Simon Rigby, former chief executive of Leeds-based utilities company Spice plc. Mr Rigby stepped down from his role at Spice in February but retained a 9% stake that was valued at £22m when private equity firm Cinven agreed its £250m takeover in September.
