Ireland Fires Up Waste-to-Energy Plant

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Ireland's state-owned heating and energy group, Bord na Móna (Newbridge, Kildare) has flicked the switch on a new waste-to-energy (WtE) facility in County Kildare, in the east of the country.

The Landfill Gas Power Plant at Drehid was officially opened by Minister for the Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, and will be capable of supplying enough green energy for 8,500 homes.

The Drehid landfill facility opened in 2008 to manage up to 360,000 tons of residual waste, including municipal, commercial and industrial waste. Later, Bord na Móna contracted Clarke Energy to supply four of GE's containerised Jenbacher JGC420GS-LL gas engines. The facility can now burn 6,000 tons of methane released by the waste, to generate 5.6-megawatts (MW) of electricity. If left untreated the waste would result in the emissions of more than 126,000 tons of CO2 annually. A priority of the design and installation of the landfill gas utilisation system was to ensure maximum noise reduction while minimising the emissions in the local environment.

"Today marks a significant step in the delivery of sustainable power sources in Ireland," said Minister Rabbitte, at the launch. "I am delighted that a company like Bord na Móna, demonstrating its prowess in resource recovery, is producing homegrown, renewable energy supplies for the Irish grid."

Gabriel D'Arcy, CEO of Bord na Móna, said: "Bord na Móna has invested heavily in new and innovative ways of capitalising on all our resources to create further value and uses. Waste recovery fits neatly with our 'Contract with Nature' vision that looks to develop business operations that are sustainable environmentally and economically. This gas power plant is the result of a transformation in the way we look at spent materials, turning household waste into green energy that in turn helps create jobs and a sustainable electricity supply."

Drehid forms the cornerstone of the company's Resource Recovery business, which offers integrated waste management through collection, recovery, recycling, treatment, and disposal services.

John Curley, Clarke Energy's General Manager stated: "Every county council and municipal authority should be harnessing landfill gas which can be used for generation of renewable base-load power -- rather than a by-product of the landfill which is destroyed without economic benefit. Landfill gas should be utilised for energy production and such projects should be prioritised for grid connections in order to take full advantage of available landfill gas."

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