Businesses on the estate including Cherry Valley and Sealord have grown to such an extent that there is inadequate power available and a joint project comprising the county and district council, Caistor Development Trust, Groundwork Lincs and various companies, is looking at various options to deal with the problem.

District Coun Alan Caine told the town council that the aim was to find a way forward to produce or create energy on the estate.

“At the moment this is still very much in the planning stages and is due to go out to public consultation,” he said.

The project has already been funded with £18,000 from the county council and £4,000 from West Lindsey.

Dave Jones, West Lindsey’s economic regeneration officer said problems across the county were being investigated to develop projects, cost up and prioritise sites. Meetings have taken place with individual businesses to try and find a way forward.

“In Caistor, after it became clear that financially, it would not be possible to simply develop or improve the electricity infrastructure, a group was put together to look at alternative energy sources to fill the current power deficit,” he said.

“We are now compiling a tender brief to employ a consultant for a feasibility study. This will look at all possible power alternatives to bridge the shortfall. The study will look at current and future power needs of the area and look to address the immediate need with an interim measure.”

l Anaerobic digestion is a process in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is widely used to treat wastewater sludges and organic waste, producing a methane and carbon dioxide rich biogas suitable for energy production and nutrient-rich solids left after digestion can be used as fertiliser.