Fre-Energy doesn’t rest on its laurels when it comes to biogas innovation. But that doesn’t mean it ignores the fundamentals of anaerobic digestion. The innovative AD plant designer and builder has worked in the biogas industry for over 15 years, building 14 plants and upgrading many more.
In that time, its co-founder, Chris Morris, has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of running plants, and has developed a sixth sense of what will and will not work. The company’s own AD plant is Lodge Farm in Holt, which is used as a research and development site.
Its feedstock of food waste comes from local restaurants and primary food manufacturers (sausage makers, creameries, bakeries), with the occasional tanker of slurry to ‘keep the bugs topped up.’
Fre-Energy began life in 2009, but its founders' experience with biogas began much earlier. In 1998. Chris worked on an AD plant in Avonmouth, and was impressed with how clever it was in dealing with waste. A while later when nearby farming friends, the Tomlinson family, were looking at slurry solutions, together they explored biogas as a viable option.
Their research concluded that, whilst they liked what AD did, a lot of the plants weren’t fully engineered or even maintained. Some had been running for 30 years with few improvements, and many had problems with grit and stones, particularly when cattle had been bedded on sand.
“What we saw was very hobbyist,” says Chris. “With the greatest intentions farmers had built plants to manage slurry and generate power to their farms, but they weren’t specialists. And why would they be? Their job is to produce food, not energy.
“We saw a real gap in the market for biogas to be done well using waste as a feedstock. Our vision as a plant builder was to do as much or as little as people wanted. But we wanted to prove ourselves with our own AD plant first. This was the start of our journey as biogas innovators; we built a prototype de-gritting system initially, then moved on to building a generator that could cope. Thankfully technology has moved on and there are generators available now, but in the early days, we had to rely on our own creations.
“However, right from the beginning we used Vogelsang equipment; their rotary lobe pumps and solid matter feeder systems were and still are the best machines for the job. But what sets them apart for us is the service they give. If we have an issue or need replacement parts, they’re able to help us straight away, which has been immensely valuable over the years.”
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