Iona Capital, the waste-to-energy investment specialist, has announced today that it has completed an investment of POUNDS 6 million in Biogen GwyriAD Ltd, which is a joint venture company with BiogenGreenfinch, a leading anaerobic digestion operator and developer in the UK.

The investment follows the successful award of a 15 year food waste contract by Gwynned Council and is the first investment under the Welsh Government's sponsored organic waste program.

BiogenGreenfinch will construct and operate a new 11,000 tonnes per annum Anaerobic Digestion ("AD") plant at Llwyn Isaf, Gwynned, to process the food waste supplied by the Council from local households and businesses together with additional third party food waste.

The contract between the Welsh Council and Biogen GwyriAD is for a minimum 15 year term, with an option to extend for a further 5 years. The contract is key to the deal as the supply of food waste to the facility is agreed and set at a fixed price over the duration of the contract.

The facility will be an AD plant processing food wastes to produce electricity and a digestate product for use as a fertiliser in agricultural applications. It will generate and export 3500MWh of electricity to the national grid each year. This is enough renewable energy to power approximately 700 households a year. This technology is a recognised solution to the UK Government's stated objectives in complying with both EU targets of reducing landfill and de-carbonising the UK electricity market. The electricity generated will benefit from premium selling prices through the Feed-in Tariff scheme.

Michael Dunn, Director, Iona Capital said: "We are delighted to take part in the Welsh Government's commitment to "zero waste to landfill by 2020" strategy. This is an important step in developing AD infrastructure not only across Wales, but also the entire UK. We are hoping that this project will set an example to other local authorities as a perfect combination of attractive returns and preservation of the environment."