Calor LPG helps Wyke Farms sell grid-quality gas

Wyke Farms, an award winning cheese producer that manufactures the most environmentally friendly cheese in the UK, is pioneering new ways in which clean household energy can be generated with the help of Calor LPG.

The business generates biogas from its own on-site anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, which converts 75,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste per year into renewable energy to sell back to the National Grid. By blending Calor LPG with their biomethane, the resulting blend qualifies for injection into mains gas grid – thereby making a contribution of sustainable energy to many thousands of domestic homes and businesses.

Jason Fewell, Engineering Director at Wyke Farms, said: “We chose LPG from Calor to blend with the lower grade biomethane in order to increase the calorific value of the gas.  This ensures that that it is the same quality as the local grid gas and also means we can claim back under the government’s renewable heat incentive (RHI) benefits.”

In order for Wyke to capitalise from its biomethane production, it needed the security and reliability of a constant supply of LPG.

Jason continues: “Calor came out to us really early on in the project and we went through where the tanks should be sited so we could start planning where the rest of the AD plant would go.”

As a result, two, 5,000 litre over-ground tanks provide a constant supply of LPG to the digestors. The tanks remain the property of Calor, meaning Wyke Farms does not need to invest time or resource in maintenance.  

To make the ordering of gas simple for the customer, the tanks are fitted with Calor’s Think Tank® telemetry system, which regularly monitors gas levels via a contents gauge, and alerts the Calor team when the tank requires a top up so a timely delivery can be scheduled.

Jason concludes: “We chose Calor because of its ability to supply and the fact it provided a telemetry system to ensure that we have a no worry supply of LPG to site.

“The fact that Calor still owns the tanks is great for us too, because it lowers our capital investment.”

The AD plant forms a part of Wyke’s ‘100% Green’ sustainability initiative, which has seen the company invest in other sustainable energy sources including solar arrays, electronic delivery, water recovery and packaging waste reduction as well as sharing knowledge and encouraging suppliers to work in more sustainable ways.