Buchan Anaerobic Digestion Facility
 Blackhills, UK

The Buchan Anaerobic Digester and Biogas Plant is a state-of-the-art waste anaerobic digestion facility near Peterhead, Scotland. Through this biological process, the facility produces fertilizer and renewable energy by recycling agricultural waste from domestic and commercial sources into biomethane, a more sustainable option than fossil-fuel gas. Thanks to investments in the plant, Buchan now has the capacity to produce up to 4,464 MWh annually of renewable electricity and more than 2.1 MMBtus/year of fossil-fuel-free biogas—all while diverting organic waste from landfills.

The Buchan digester was commissioned in 2016 and sold to Generate Upcycle in 2021. In 2023, Generate Upcycle invested more than £6 million in the plant, improving the anaerobic digester. Buchan is now fully operational and can process more than 78,000 tonnes of local agricultural waste per year, delivering up to 4,464 MWh annually of clean electricity to the grid via an onsite generator and injecting up to 2.1 MMBtus of biomethane into the gas network in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, powering 1,622 homes with renewable electricity and heating 5,101 homes with biomethane.

Buchan also produces digestate, liquid and solid fertilizers that are used on local farm lands throughout the region, creating a sustainable local economy and high-quality jobs in Peterhead.