Black Dog Biogas generates sufficient power to supply around 80% of Vestas’ needs, as well as around 1,200 homes on the Isle of Wight.
Earth Capital, the manager of Black Dog Biogas, is invested in the project through the firm’s Nobel Sustainability Fund®, a multi-phase, multi-geography fund, which invests across the sustainable and impact private markets, accelerating companies for growth, expansion, and subsequent acquisition.
James Luter, Senior Factory Director of Vestas’ Isle of Wight facility said: “The UK Government has unveiled ambitious plans to expand the country’s offshore wind capacity, potentially powering all UK homes by 2030. Our factory has an important role in helping to make that ambition a reality. It’s particularly pleasing that we can deliver our blades to the UK and global markets sustainably, using renewable energy from Black Dog to manufacture our blades.”
Dr Simon Crook, Director of Black Dog Biogas & Investment Director of Earth Capital said: “This is a great opportunity for two neighbouring green businesses to deliver a scheme that both makes environmental and commercial sense. We could not have wished for a better partner with which to deliver this project. Collaborations such as this are vital in helping the UK reduce carbon emissions and embrace renewable energy. Biogas is an important part of the low-carbon energy mix and it has the potential to reduce waste to landfill by converting household food waste into energy as well.”
Last year the UK Government announced a Ten Point Plan to mobilise government investment and to drive job creation to harness the Green Industrial Revolution. Advancing offshore wind was recognised as a key priority within the Ten Point Plan, with the UK setting an ambitious target of quadrupling the country’s offshore wind capacity by 2030.
For further information please contact:
Black Dog Biogas
Dr Simon Crook
About Black Dog Biogas
Based on the Isle of Wight, the Company owns and operates an anaerobic digestion plant which produces biogas that is used to produce electricity via its combined heat and power units. The site had an original capacity of 0.5MW but the team more than doubled its size by adding an additional 0.64 MW combined heat and power unit.
The plant produces electricity in a process where organic materials, such as maize and grass, is broken down by naturally occurring microbes to produce biogas. The feedstock is 100% sourced from the Isle of Wight in partnership with local farmers. In addition to biogas, the plant also produces a nutrient-rich digestate, a bioproduct of the anaerobic digestion process that is spread back onto farmland on the Isle of Wight and helps to grow more crops for both the Black Dog facility and for other uses. This helps support a circular economy on the Island and avoids the use of carbon-intensive fertilisers. The electricity produced is sold both to Vestas and the local grid, where it produces enough power for over 1,200 homes.
About Earth Capital
Earth Capital is the global investment group founded by Gordon Power and Stephen Lansdown, co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown. The group managers are responsible for over $1.7 billion in sustainable and impact private markets investments. Earth Capital invests globally in companies and infrastructure which address the challenges of Sustainable Development such as climate change and energy, food, and water security. Investment sectors include energy efficiency, energy generation, clean industry, agriculture, waste and water. Earth Capital measures Sustainable Impact through the Earth Dividend™, which provides an annual measure of an investee company’s contribution to Sustainable Development. The Earth Dividend™ has been developed by Earth Capital’s in-house Sustainability specialists following a detailed benchmark of international best practice approaches to the assessment, reporting and assurance of impact and ESG issues.
Winners of Most Innovative ESG Product (for the Earth Dividend™) – ESG Investing Awards 2020
Awarded A+ scores in 2020 by Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI)
Achieved UNFCCC Climate Neutral Now status in August 2020
For more information, visit earthcapital.net and follow the company on LinkedIn.
About Vestas
Vestas is the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service onshore and offshore wind turbines across the globe, and with more than 125 GW of wind turbines in 82 countries, we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Through our industry-leading smart data capabilities and unparalleled more than 112 GW of wind turbines under service, we use data to interpret, forecast, and exploit wind resources and deliver best-in-class wind power solutions. Together with our customers, Vestas’ more than 29,000 employees are bringing the world sustainable energy solutions to power a bright future.
Source: Maitland
