Basingstoke Advanced Anaerobic Digestion Facility

When Thames Water identified the need for a new £53 million strategic sludge center in Basingstoke, our team stepped up as designer for both the outline and detailed design. 

This plant accepts local and imported sludge—both cake and liquid—and screens and treats it before anaerobic digestion. The Basingstoke facility features thermal hydrolysis process (THP), gas holding and treatment, combined heat and power (CHP), a waste gas burner, composite steam boiler, an odor control system, and a sidestream liquor treatment plant. Taking on full design services, from piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), civil construction drawings, to detailed mechanical and electrical specifications, our team provided process, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering for the project. 

The sludge treatment center uses mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) in conjunction with the THP to treat and dewater sewage sludge from a population of more than 130,000 people. This generates up to 50 MWh of electricity every day—enough to power the equivalent of 3,000 homes.

Following our work, the Basingstoke Sewage Treatment Works is now producing enough energy from waste to power the entire site, as well as export to the national electricity grid.