Concerns have been raised over the lack of funding for the coming year for Ireland’s anaerobic digestion sector.

The next round of funding for new digesters will not be made until 2026 under the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature fund.

Concerns were raised by Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) CEO Seán Finan that the sector’s capacity could be limited by a lack of capital and ongoing supports.

Finan also warned that current rules around the treatment of digestate before land spreading could limit the nutrient source’s ability to replace chemical fertiliser on farms.

These issues could be addressed by amending the European Commission’s ReNure proposals which seek to replace chemical fertiliser with processed manures, such as slurries passed through biomethane plants before undergoing treatment.

“There is opportunity to displace chemical fertiliser with organic digestate if the ReNure proposals are enacted,” he told the IrBEA conference last week.

Nitrates

“The situation at the moment is that a farmer can import slurry if nitrates allows from multiple farms with no issue.

“If you are the same farmer and you go to a biogas plant, which imports slurry from multiple farms, you’d have to pasteurise it by heating at 70°C for one hour.

“That is a significant cost to the biogas plant. It makes no sense,” he said.

The €40m in Department of Agriculture grant aid for the construction of new biomethane plants or the upgrading of existing anaerobic digestion facilities to produce biomethane output has been fully allocated.

The Biomethane Capital Grant Scheme is aiming to kickstart the agri-led anaerobic digestion sector in Ireland, by providing up to 20% of the capital costs associated with greenfield or upgrading projects up to €5m.

Some 18 projects were approved for funding last month and all 18 of these projects have replied to the Department, indicating they will progress their proposals.

The clock is now ticking for these projects to break ground as funding will only be received if they are at installed capacity by the end of 2025.