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Bord na Móna has announced plans to develop a renewable gas project near Portlaoise, Co Laois.
“Animal slurries and purpose-grown crops” are among the 80,000t of organic material to be processed every year.
While this may provide an outlet for local farmers, the bulk of feedstock is likely to come from the brown bins in Bord na Móna’s household waste collection subsidiary, AES.
The company is planning to inject enough biogas to heat 5,500 homes into the national gas network. “The process will also produce a nutrient-rich by-product (bio-fertiliser), which will be suitable for spreading on agricultural land and will be a sustainable alternative to traditional artificial fertilisers,” Bord na Móna stated as part of its annual results.
Gas Networks Ireland has confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that it is planning a direct connection to the national grid for the Portlaoise project and was in contact with five other waste processors interested in injecting biogas into the network.
While Ian Kilgallon, business development and innovation manager at Gas Networks Ireland, expects that such industrial anaerobic digesters could provide up to 10% of Ireland’s future renewable gas supply, he sees the bulk of this coming from smaller agricultural plants transporting gas by tanker to local injection points.
PJ McCarthy, chair of the Renewable Gas Forum, agreed. “We’re looking at clusters of various sizes, better able to deal with agricultural residue,” he said.
Glenmore Group
Separately, two large biogas projects under development by the Co Donegal-based Glenmore group of companies, which acquired An Grianán estate last year, have been moving through the planning process.
Glenmore has applied for planning permission for alterations to its near-completed 90,000t project in Ballybofey, Co Donegal. EPA inspections had detected multiple non-compliance issues over the past year.
“All compliance investigations relating to this facility are now closed as a result of Glenmore Generation Ltd addressing the relevant issues” or in progress where more time is needed, an EPA spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.
Galway County Council recently requested further information on the group’s proposed 95,000t plant in Gort, which has run into opposition from locals.
Planners have sought extensive additional details on environmental and fire risks, delivery routes and supplies, noting that “the largest source of feedstock is generated from pig slurry.”
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