New €50m Kildare biomethane plant
Aerial photographs of the anaerobic digestion (AD) units under construction at Evergreen’s facility in Kildare
GAS Networks Ireland has signed an agreement with Evergreen Agricultural Enterprises to connect a new €50 million biomethane production plant in Monasterevin, Co Kildare directly to the national gas network.
This landmark anaerobic digestion facility will convert byproducts from Ireland’s distilling industry, such as spent grains and other residues, into renewable biomethane gas supporting Ireland’s National Biomethane Strategy.
Once operational, Evergreen’s facility, which is currently under construction, will process up to 100,000 tonnes of distilling byproducts annually, converting them into biomethane, a renewable gas that will be injected directly into the national gas network.
The plant will produce up to 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable biomethane each year – enough to heat more than 8,000 Irish homes – and is expected to cut Ireland’s carbon dioxide emissions by almost 18,500 tonnes annually.
Structurally identical to natural gas, biomethane is a carbon neutral renewable gas that can be produced from farm and food waste through a process known as anaerobic digestion.
Evergreen is one of a number of projects which were approved to benefit from the Government’s €40 million National Biomethane Capital Grant Scheme, administered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The scheme is designed to accelerate the rollout of biomethane production across Ireland in line with the National Biomethane Strategy and the State’s ambition to produce 5.7 terawatt hours (TWh) of indigenous biomethane by 2030.
In addition to producing biomethane, Evergreen’s facility will feature an on-site greenhouse that uses recovered heat and liquid biofertiliser from the anaerobic digestion process to grow vegetables for donation to the local community demonstrating the circular economy benefits of biomethane production in supporting both environmental and social goals.
Evergreen’s Monasterevin facility is visible from the M7 motorway and will create up to 75 direct and indirect local jobs during construction and operation, with potential for further expansion.
