Gwynedd: Llwyn Isaf GwyriAD anaerobic digester work starts

Gwynedd council says the plant will process about 200 tonnes of food waste weekly

Work has begun on a £5m anaerobic digestion (AD) plant which will turn food waste into energy in Gwynedd.

The turf was cut at Gwynedd council's Llwyn Isaf site near Caernarfon by Environment Minister John Griffiths.

The GwyriAD plant is forecast to process 11,000 tonnes of food waste a year and produce enough electricity to power 700 homes annually.

The plant is expected to be completed and generating electricity by the end of summer 2013.

It will be designed, built and operated by food waste company BIOGEN on behalf of the council.

The plant will process food waste collected from the county's homes and businesses.

Environment Minister John Griffiths said the project would create local jobs.

BIOGEN chairman John Ibbett said: "It is an exciting model and one which we hope to replicate across the UK".

Gwynedd council cabinet member Gareth Roberts said: "As well as processing more than 200 tonnes of food waste every week in a sustainable and responsible manner, the plant will also produce around 9,000 tonnes of biofertiliser each year which will be used on local farmland and produce green electricity to be sold back to the National Grid."

The plant is financed by Gwynedd council, BIOGEN, Iona Capital and the Welsh government.