Edenderry Power Ltd has received approval to switch to using exclusively biomass to generate electricity until the end of 2030.
Offaly County Council confirmed the decision subject to the fulfilment of ten planning conditions, the content of which is unclear as the decision documents have not been posted on the council’s website at the time of going to press.
The positive verdict comes after the applicant recently provided further information to answer the council’s questions on haul routes, HGV traffic and storage.
Edenderry Power Limited (EPL), part of Bord na Móna, submitted plans to increase the volume of “sustainable biomass feedstock” for the plant from 300,000 to 530,000 tons per year from early 2024 to the end of 2030.
Under the plant’s current permit, it is allowed to use peat and biomass as a joint fuel for a period of seven years, until December 2023. All ash produced by the plant is deposited in the Clobullogue ash deposit, managed by Bord na Móna Energy Ltd.
In highlighting the strategic importance of the North Offaly power station in the planning reports, it is noted that it generates “up to 118MWh of dispatchable electricity”, and to put this volume into perspective “the 330MWh generated by the EPP is roughly equivalent to the output of a 100MW wind farm”. The largest wind farm in the state is 169MW and consists of 58 turbines,” planning documents in support of the project state.
The volume of peat used has been decreasing since 2008 as the volume of biomass increased, the company adds in the application, leading to lower CO2 emissions. In June 2020, the collection of milled peat will definitely cease.
However, the company says it will continue to use harvested peat stocks (collected before June 2020) until stocks are exhausted, but no later than the end of next year.
The North Offaly plant, which has been open since 2000, is based in Ballykilleen, about six miles south of the town of Edenderry and just over three miles from the village of Clonbullogue.
Source: Offaly Independent