A national 'green' energy provider based in the East of England has secured a deal with British Gas putting it at the cutting edge of renewable gas production in the UK.

Bio Group, based near Ely, is to work with British Gas on the construction of a facility at Stockport, Greater Manchester, which will convert commercial food waste into renewable gas.

The �5m development, which will operate as Fairfield Bio Energy, has been agreed following Bio Group's successful launch of Adnams Bio Energy at Reydon in Suffolk, in association with Southwold brewer Adnams, and is due to open in April next year.

It will use food waste from local hotels and restaurants, and British Gas's offices, to generate enough gas to supply up to 1,400 homes every year.

'We are delighted to be working with British Gas,' said Steve Sharratt, chief executive of Bio Group. 'Fairfield Bio Energy has been designed using our groundbreaking technology as the next stage of a national roll out of anaerobic digestion plants.' Anaerobic digestion can produce gas from a range of organic materials such as cattle slurry and food or household waste. The gas consists mainly of methane and has similar thermal characteristics to natural gas which, once upgraded to specification, can be injected into the gas grid.