In recent weeks Nephin Renewable Gas (NRG) headquartered in Tipperary town formally lodged its first planning application with Mayo County Council to develop an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility at a site in Ballinrobe. The company intends to develop a number of similar facilities across the country.
NRG is a newly established renewable energy company and currently has 13 staff based at the Tipperary Town office in the Technology park on Rosanna road. The company is currently assessing other potential sites around the country including in Co Tipperary with some speculation that it may be involved with plans for Biomethane plant at Killough Quarry near the Horse and Jockey. NRG is ambitious to become the leading producer and supplier of Biomethane in Ireland as a major innovator in the renewable carbon free energy sector.
The Department of Agriculture is trying to establish if any Anaerobic Digestion plants planned by a variety of operators can be built in time to qualify for a new grant scheme. The €40m capital grant scheme requires that projects must have planning permission by September and be built by the end of next year. The Biomethane Capital Grant Scheme worth €40m this year will provide a 20% grant for upgrade works to an existing biogas plant or aid with the construction of a new plant. The grant aid is capped at €5m per plant. Of the 46 expressions of interest submitted earlier this year about 17 of them could meet the scheme requirements.
