Construction of biomethane facility expected in 2023

Gas Networks Ireland expects to begin building its planned biomethane injection facility in Mitchelstown in the summer of 2023. CEO of the company Cathal Marley made the announcement to delegates at the Energy Ireland Conference in Croke Park on Wednesday.

The project forms just one part of a €30 million renewable gas project GRAZE (Green Renewable Agricultural Zero Emissions). The new facility will inject biomethane into the central grid in Mitchelstown, and hopes to get the biomethane from 20 local farm-based producers.

The biomethane will be produced with up to 20 anaerobic digesters, a sizeable piece of equipment where one unit can cost at least €5 million. This figure was quoted by Teagasc in a presentation on the facility last year, with larger units costing €8 million. While Europe has over 18,000 AD plants, Ireland has just a handful. Currently, there is no capital grant funding available to invest in an AD in Ireland. However, while it is true that other European countries do not provide capital funding either, they have implemented incentive schemes like feed-in tariffs.

In April of this year, Ballyhoura Development CLG were granted funding for a community-owned Anaerobic Digester, and there is already one on-site at Dairygold in Mitchelstown.

Gas Networks Ireland confirmed that there has been “significant interest” from farmers and potential producers with more than 130 enquiries. However, no contracts have been signed to date, and any that are will not be contracts with Gas Networks Ireland directly.

“Contracts will be between farmers (and food waste providers) and producers, and producers and shippers. In both instances, both parties will have to come to a commercial contract agreement with terms and conditions agreeable to both.”

“No contracts will be held with Gas Networks Ireland. As the national network operators, our role in a biomethane industry is to facilitate the injection of biomethane into the network, certify the volumes of biomethane injected and transport the biomethane to customers. We do not produce, buy or sell biomethane,” a spokesperson confirmed.

MANY BENEFITS

Led by Gas Networks Ireland, the GRAZE project is supported by more than €8.4 million in funding from the Climate Action Fund, as part of the Government’s National Energy Security Framework. The Climate Action Plan has set a target of 3% of Ireland’s gas usage to be replaced by biomethane by 2030. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said that the GRAZE project would help Ireland be more self-sustaining in terms of energy as well as help Ireland to meet its broader climate goals.

Mr Marley said that investing in biomethane on a large scale will have many beneftis.

“It will create significant employment, with up to 6,500 new jobs, mainly in rural Ireland, and provide new income opportunities for local communities from the sale of biomethane, feedstock used to produce the renewable gas and also a highly effective organic bio-fertiliser digestate that is a by-product of the process.

“A domestic biomethane industry would not only support the decarbonisation of the agricultural sector, but it would also provide significant opportunities for rural communities and facilitate sustainable circular economies, with businesses powering their operations via renewable gas made from their own waste.”