A young farming couple have scooped a top global award in recognition of their trailblazing dedication to renewable energy.

Rob Greenow and Katie French won ‘Best UK On-Farm AD Plant’ at the 2018 AD & Biogas Industry Awards for Agrogen, a 249kW anaerobic digester sited on a 1,200-acre farm in Staffordshire.

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The plant was the first project for Rob and Katie, founders of AD management business, BioG UK, who have since built and acquired a portfolio of five AD plants in two years with funding partner, Privilege Finance. 

“It was an honour to win ‘Best UK On-Farm AD Plant’,” said Rob. “I established BioG UK in 2012, two years after I graduated from university, and although anaerobic digestion was only just beginning to find its feet in the UK, it was always my dream to set up my own plant,” he adds.

“So, for it to be recognised by AD experts as the best of its kind in the country is a wonderful sense of achievement. My aim is to push the other AD plants to this level in the next 12 months, including our latest food waste AD plant acquisition.”

The recognition for the pair did not stop there either, with both Rob and Katie being highly commended in the ‘UK AD Plant Manager of the Year’ and ‘Rising Star’ categories respectively.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work and sleepless nights to get to this point, so to be acknowledged as a ‘Rising Star’ in the industry is amazing,” said Katie.

“I believe that anaerobic digestion has a strong future in the UK and I look forward to being part of this exciting journey.”

Rob and Katie were nominated by Privilege Finance, who provided financial support for the Agrogen AD plant and subsequent BioG UK projects.

“We’re delighted that the pair have been recognised by these widely respected industry awards,” says Phil Gerrard, CEO of Privilege Finance. “They’ve both achieved a great deal in a short space of time and we’ve been proud to support them.

“We were pleased to provide finance for the Agrogen AD plant which, as this award proves, is an exceptional facility. We’ve invested more than £300 million in AD plants in the UK to date and look forward to continuing to support this growing sector, both financially and through our whole lifecycle approach to projects.”