Family-run Allium Energy has secured a seven figure funding package to fuel a combined heat and power project.
The Easingwold-based firm has secured a £3m loan facility from Lloyds Bank to fund part of a £6m energy recovery plant that will reduce local CO2 emissions by almost 6,500 tonnes every year, and will generate enough power to supply the equivalent of 813 homes. Allium will also create four new jobs in the move.
Both the electricity and heat from the new plant will be used locally. A nearby poultry farm will receive the first draw of power, with the balance being fed into the national grid. Richard Todd, managing director of Allium Energy, said: "In the current climate, factors like demand for new housing and the drive to adopt electric vehicles are placing huge pressure on our grid. Couple this with the fact that energy prices are only set to rise, and it’s critical that we do as much as we can to capitalise on the materials we have at our disposal to create renewable, clean, sustainable sources of power.
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“This was the inspiration for the evolution of F D Todd & Sons into Allium Energy – there was huge potential sat, quite literally, waiting to be transformed into energy that can contribute to meeting local demand. The set-up we are creating here is fully scalable, and we hope it can be used as a blueprint for developers and other big users of energy looking to find more sustainable, localised power and heat solutions.”
Allium Energy started as F D Todd & Sons at the end of the First World War. The business originally offered quarrying and road building before branching into skip hire and waste management services under the leadership of Richard Todd who is the fourth generation of the family.
In 2017 Allium was formed, taking the business into renewable power generation and land restoration. A number of the firm's former waste sites produced methane from decomposing organic matter. These sites are now renewable centres – all waste is processed to recover its power, with compost produced as a biproduct.
Carolyn English, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: "This kind of innovation is exactly what the UK needs to help us meet our net zero goals, and take big steps towards becoming a truly circular economy, thinking creatively about how to use waste products. We’re excited to see how Allium’s proposition develops over the coming months as they pioneer the use of locally generated energy."
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