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Anaerobic Digester Finance

Finance on-farm and industrial anaerobic digestion plants from £150,000 to £1,800,000, for converting organic waste into biogas. HP, lease, or refinance, compare rates from 40+ lenders.

Can you finance a anaerobic digester?

Yes, anaerobic digesters are financed as a standard asset purchase, usually on hire purchase or a lease, with the machine itself acting as the security. UK prices typically run £150,000 to £1,800,000, and most deals are written over 12–84 months with a deposit of around 10–20%. Decisions typically take 24–48 hours. Used machines are financeable too, usually with a shorter term.

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Typical Cost

£150k – £1800k

Approval Speed

24–48 hours

Feedstock supply is the key viability factor

Rates From

5.5% APR

What would a anaerobic digester cost per month?

£500,000
10%
60 months
9%
£0

Your estimate

Indicative only. Not a quote and not an offer of finance.

Pre-filled with a typical anaerobic digester price. Indicative only, not a quote.

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Finance options

Hire Purchase (HP)

Rate
From 5.9% APR
Term
12–84 months
Deposit
10–20%
Ownership
Yours at the end
Best for
Farms and businesses wanting to own the plant and its output

Finance Lease

Rate
From 5.5% APR
Term
12–84 months
Deposit
None required
Ownership
Return or buy (balloon payment)
Best for
Tax-efficient, claim 100% of payments against profit

Operating Lease

Rate
From 6.4% APR
Term
24–60 months
Deposit
None required
Ownership
Return at end
Best for
Off balance sheet for a large, long-life asset

Representative example

On a purchase price of £500,000: a 10% deposit of £50,000, then 48 monthly payments of £10,548 at 5.9% APR representative (fixed). Total amount payable £556,304, including the deposit. The rate you are offered depends on your business and the asset.

What buyers actually specify

Guide prices for sizing a finance agreement, not quotes. Manufacturers in this market mostly price on application, so where a current UK list price could not be confirmed the row describes a specification class rather than naming a model. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.

Machine or specification Guide price Type
20kWe On-Farm AD Plant £120,000 – £200,000 Small On-Farm Digester
50kWe Containerised AD Plant £300,000 – £420,000 Containerised Digester
130kWe Farm-Scale AD Plant £650,000 – £850,000 Farm-Scale Digester
275kWe Farm-Scale AD Plant £1,300,000 – £1,700,000 Larger Farm-Scale Digester

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Tax benefits

Anaerobic digestion plants generally qualify as plant and machinery for capital allowances, so a business can typically set some or all of the cost against taxable profits through the Annual Investment Allowance or other first-year reliefs, subject to your total qualifying spend for the year. Any specific renewable heat or gas support scheme terms change over time, so check current status directly with gov.uk or your AD supplier rather than assuming a figure from a previous scheme still applies.

Market context

The typical buyer is a farm, food processor or waste management business with a reliable, ongoing supply of organic feedstock, such as slurry, crop residues or food waste, since a digester needs consistent input to run efficiently and cost estimates published for similar-sized plants vary widely depending on feedstock type, site infrastructure and whether gas is used for on-site heat and power or upgraded and injected into the gas grid. Because digesters are complex, continuously-running biological processes rather than simple mechanical equipment, feedstock supply security, digestate storage and disposal, and ongoing operational management tend to matter as much to project viability as the capital cost itself, and are worth working through with a specialist AD developer before finalising a finance amount.

Bad credit?

Several of our 200+ lenders specialise in businesses with imperfect credit histories. You may need a larger deposit or personal guarantee, but options exist. Checking your options here does not affect your credit score, because we do not run a credit search to match you. A lender will run their own checks only if you decide to apply.

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Frequently asked questions

What feedstock does an anaerobic digester need?
Most farm-scale digesters run on a combination of livestock slurry and crop material such as maize or grass silage, while some industrial digesters process food or process waste instead. The plant needs to be designed around a reliable, consistent supply of whatever feedstock you actually have access to, since inconsistent input reduces biogas output and efficiency. A feedstock assessment is normally one of the first steps an AD developer will carry out before proposing a plant size.
What does the biogas actually get used for?
Most commonly it's burned in a CHP engine on site to generate electricity and heat, with the electricity used on site or exported and the heat used for farm buildings or process needs. Some plants instead upgrade the biogas to biomethane and inject it into the gas grid. Which route suits your site depends on your electricity and gas needs, grid connection options, and the AD developer's assessment, which is worth getting before committing to a design.
What happens to the material left over after digestion?
The process leaves behind digestate, a nutrient-rich residue that's commonly used as a fertiliser on farmland, which can offset some fertiliser costs for a farm-based operation. It needs proper storage capacity and, depending on volume and local regulations, a nutrient management plan for spreading it on land. Storage and spreading logistics are a real part of running an AD plant and worth planning for alongside the capital project.
What deposit is needed for anaerobic digester finance?
Given the scale of most AD projects, lenders typically look at bespoke deposit and security structures rather than a fixed percentage, often in the 10–20% range for hire purchase, with the specific terms depending on feedstock security, offtake arrangements and the developer's track record. Finance leases and operating leases are also used for larger AD projects, particularly where a specialist funder is involved alongside a general asset finance lender.
How long does an anaerobic digester project take from finance to operation?
Considerably longer than most equipment on this site. Beyond finance approval, AD projects typically involve planning permission, environmental permitting, grid or gas connection applications and a construction period that can run to many months, so the finance timeline is usually the shortest part of the overall project. We'd recommend engaging a specialist AD developer early to map the full project timeline before applying for finance.

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