Gas Networks Ireland has announced a partnership with renewable energy company Bia Energy to connect a €63 million biomethane gas plant to the national gas network.
Bia Energy’s facility is located in Huntstown, Co. Dublin. Gas Networks Ireland will create the capital’s first renewable gas entry point to allow the anerobic digestion (AD) facility to connect to the network.
This plant will produce biomethane from food waste from the greater Dublin area.
Gas Networks Ireland said that renewable biomethane gas is fully compatible with the existing national gas network and all existing appliances, technologies and vehicles that currently use gas.
According to Gas Networks Ireland, Bia Energy’s facility in Huntstown will “play a significant role in decarbonising the national gas network and can be a model for further investment in the growing biomethane sector”.
The facility was acquired by Bia Energy’s parent Sretaw Group last year and is being reconfigured to process a range of organic material, such as food waste; food processing residue; and dairy and agricultural waste.
The plant does not produce biomethane gas currently, but will be converted to that process.
The facility will also produce biofertiliser, which can replace conventional chemical fertiliser for farmers. According to Brendan Traynor, Bia Energy’s managing director, the company is partnering with local farmers to provide this biofertiliser, which, he said, will replace 7,000t of chemical fertiliser per year.
“Bia Energy’s Dublin plant is set to contribute up to 120 gigawatt hours (GWh) of biomethane annually to the national gas network, more than doubling the biomethane volume injected in 2023 and reducing nearly 25,000t of carbon dioxide emissions each year,” Traynor claimed.
The launch of the Gas Networks Ireland and Bia Energy partnership was attended by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, who said: “The launch of this facility aligns with the government’s National Biomethane Strategy and is a positive step forward in our aim to create opportunities for the Irish agri-food sector to produce not only food but also energy.
“This facility…demonstrates how, by working with local farmers and leveraging the expertise of Gas Networks Ireland, Bia Energy shares the government’s ambition to turn organic waste into valuable resources,” he added.
“Success will be this nascent sector reducing greenhouse gas emissions while providing the agricultural sector with nutrient-rich biofertiliser and alternative income opportunities,” the minister said.
Gas Networks Ireland said it will help support the growth of an indigenous biomethane sector by extending the national gas network to Bia Energy’s facility and developing a biomethane network entry facility onsite to enable direct injection of the biomethane produced on-site into the national gas network.
David Kelly, Gas Networks Ireland’s director of customer and business development, said: “Replacing natural gas with biomethane in the short term is a crucial first step in the decarbonisation of the gas network.
“Biomethane can play an important role in meeting the state’s 2030 emissions reduction target and having increased volumes of biomethane on the national gas network will enable businesses to procure this renewable gas to decarbonise their operations,” Kelly added.