A company with multiple anaerobic digestion (AD) plants across Europe has announced it intends to establish four new plants in Ireland.

CycleØ Group, which has a portfolio of hundreds of biomethane installations in more than 40 countries globally, said it has initially identified sites in Kildare, Cavan, Galway and Limerick.

The total investment is said to be €100m, with these plants expected to generate around 40 GWh each of biomethane per annum, enough to heat 3,000 Irish homes for a year.

CycleØ, which has indicated it intends to buy organic feedstocks from farmers, said standard contracts will run for 15 years.

It added: “Farmers may sign agreements with CycleØ to sell or lease land for plant construction and to sell their waste for processing into biomethane, with the right to purchase the nutrient-rich fertiliser produced as a byproduct of the AD process known as digestate.”

‘Ticks boxes’

CycleØ’s Irish manager James Manley said using feedstocks to produce biomethane ticks many boxes.

“It helps farmers solve their waste management problems, delivers low-cost, nutrient-rich fertilisers to support Irish agriculture and brings new green jobs to rural communities,” he added.

CycleØ’s CEO Laurence Molke said Ireland represents an important, long-term investment destination for CycleØ.

“We are excited to announce this fully funded programme, which enables us to start talking to the local communities and farmers who’ll be working with us to make this investment ambition a reality.

“We’ll be organising a series of local, face-to-face meetings and working with leading Irish farming and local media to share more information about our plans and how farmers will benefit from working with us,” Molke said.