A biogas company in Wiltshire has become the first recipient of a loan from a £10m anaerobic digestion fund launched by Defra and the Waste & Resources Action Programe (WRAP).

Malaby Biogas received £800,000 to go toward developing a new £5m plant, which when complete is expected to generate 4.3m kWh of electricity a year. Around 7% of this is likely to power the plant itself and any excess generated will be sold on to National Grid.

Thomas Minter, Malaby director said: “Initially the plant will process around 17,000 tonnes of waste a year and we’d hope to be able to handle up to 20,000 tonnes at full capacity.”

WRAP has made £10m available, through individual loans ranging from £50,000 – £1m, over a five-year period.

Defra Minister Lord Taylor said: “The energy that can be created from food waste that would otherwise lie rotting in landfill is astonishing. This £800,000 investment from our £10 million anaerobic digestion fund will help this new plant to be built so we can harness that energy to power our towns and cities and remove a cause of greenhouse gas emissions form landfill.”

Applications for the current round can be submitted before 30th April.