What Does It Take to Install an Anaerobic Digestion Plant on a Farm?

Installation is only one part of the project

When people picture an AD installation, they often picture the finished digester. But before the plant reaches that point, considerable work may already have taken place — the exact sequence depends on the system and site, but a typical farm project moves through a broad set of stages, several of which can overlap rather than strictly following one another.

1. 01Understand the farm
2. 02Define what's needed
3. 03Agree the project scope
4. 04Develop the layout
5. 05Order long-lead equipment
6. 06Prepare the site
7. 07Complete concrete works
8. 08Install tanks and pumps
9. 09Install pipework and electrical infrastructure
10. 10Deliver and position the plant
11. 11Connect, test and commission

Understand the farm

The first stage is understanding the site — cattle housing, slurry collection, existing tanks, access, available land, ground levels, drainage, electrical services, existing buildings and the proposed plant location. This is where practical agricultural experience matters: an arrangement that looks neat on a drawing may create problems once tractors, tankers, loaders, cattle movements and maintenance access are considered.

Define what's needed, then agree the scope

Once the farm is understood, the installation requirements can be developed — digester, CHP, pumps, mixers, tanks, separator, pipework, valves, cabling, control equipment, concrete, drainage and trenches. The aim is to understand the whole installation, not merely the main AD unit.

Charlie Bell Building deliberately works with flexible project scopes. One farmer may have their own excavator, staff, groundwork contractor or electrician and want CBB to undertake only selected specialist work. Another may want CBB to coordinate substantially more. What matters is establishing clearly what CBB is doing, what the farmer is doing, what the plant manufacturer is doing, and what specialist contractors are doing — ambiguous responsibility is one of the easiest ways to create project delays.

Developing the layout and ordering long-lead equipment

The plant arrangement needs to work physically — slurry source, transfer distance, digestate route, tanks, pipework, electrical services, maintenance access, vehicle access, levels, drainage and future development all need balancing against each other.

Procurement can't wait until the site is ready, either. Some equipment — pumps, mixers, control panels, concrete products, fabricated steel, specialist valves — can have significant manufacturing or delivery lead times, so procurement and construction need to progress as coordinated workstreams rather than one after the other.

Preparing the site and completing the concrete works

Physical works can then begin — clearing, excavation, stone or sub-base, levelling, trenches, tank excavations, drainage and access preparation. Accurate preparation matters because later equipment relies on the levels and positions established at this stage.

Concrete for plant foundations, equipment bases, tank structures and associated infrastructure has to be formed, poured, finished and cured sufficiently before subsequent work — a delay here can affect everything scheduled afterwards.

Installing tanks, pumps, mixers and pipework

Depending on the installation, tanks may be required for slurry transfer, reception, digestate and associated process duties, with fabricated steelwork, concrete panels and other components coordinated between suppliers. Pumps are fundamental to most farm AD installations, transferring material between slurry collection, reception, the digester, digestate storage and any separation equipment — correct selection and installation matter because these components operate in demanding environments.

Pipework connects the physical system, with routes needing to consider distance, elevation, access, protection, valves, crossings and future maintenance. Buried pipework may need to be installed while trenches are open, which makes sequencing important.

Electrical infrastructure

Electrical specialists may install power cabling, control cabling, containment, panels, instrumentation, CHP connections and pump or mixer supplies. CBB's role is best understood as coordinating and enabling electrical requirements where appropriate, alongside its own core groundworks and mechanical installation work, rather than every element being performed by any single party.

Delivering and positioning the plant

Once the enabling work is sufficiently complete, the principal plant equipment can be delivered — and modern modular AD equipment can sometimes be installed surprisingly quickly once the site is ready. At Jenkin Cragg Farm near Kendal, covered by Farmers Weekly in March 2026, the Biolectric plant components were manufactured in Belgium before being shipped to the UK, with the reported on-site construction of the plant itself taking around four days. The same article credits Charlie Bell as the project manager who guided the farmer and oversaw the groundworks.

That example illustrates an important distinction: fast equipment erection depends on the site being properly prepared first — the four days is the visible final step of a much longer planning and groundworks process, not the whole project.

Connecting everything together, testing and commissioning

The plant then needs to be integrated with slurry infrastructure, digestate storage, pumps, pipework, the electrical system, controls and gas utilisation equipment — this integration is what turns a collection of components into a functioning installation.

Before normal operation, systems need to be checked and commissioned. Responsibilities for this can be shared between CBB, the plant manufacturer, electrical specialists and other parties depending on the agreed scope for that project — the exact split is confirmed on a project-by-project basis rather than fixed in advance.

How much of the installation can the farmer do?

Potentially quite a lot. A farm with appropriate machinery, labour and local contractors may want to undertake excavation, stone preparation, certain trenching or some general construction themselves. Other farmers may prefer CBB to undertake or coordinate more. That's why the approach is as much or as little support as the project requires, rather than a rigid installation package.

Why project coordination matters

An AD project can involve the farmer, CBB, the plant manufacturer, pump suppliers, concrete suppliers, fabricators, hauliers, electrical contractors, groundwork contractors and equipment suppliers. If one item is late, several later activities can be affected — good installation management involves looking several weeks ahead, not simply reacting to today's work.