Issue 15 Spring 2013 - National Rural Network

Anaerobic Digestion on Limerick Farm
Farm-based anaerobic digestion is in its infancy in Ireland
with less than a handful of plants. In Germany, the world
leader, there are around 4,000 on-farm anaerobic digesters.
There are less than 100 in the UK, with ambitious plans to
increase to 1,000 by 2020.
The McDonnell family, who farm outside Shanagolden in
Co. Limerick, have installed one of the most advanced
anaerobic digestion (AD) on-farm plants in the country.
GreenGas AD is the only plant in Ireland currently selling
electricity into the national grid.
Brothers David and Richard McDonnell run a 300-cow dairy
herd, supplying Kerry Group. They also run a free-range
poultry enterprise, supplying chickens to Shannon Vale
Foods in Clonakilty. A few years ago, they started looking at
alternative energy and David visited a number of AD plants
in Germany and Denmark.
He engaged German company Krieg and Fischer, which
has built over 150 AD plants worldwide, to design the plant.
Construction was completed in 2010 and GreenGas AD
went into commercial operation in early 2011.
Management
“It is a highly complex chemical, biological, mechanical
and electrical process which requires management on a
daily basis. It was a heavy investment and it would not be
viable without grant-aid. We are meeting our financial targets
and hope to have the investment re-paid within about eight
years,” said David.
As well as the AD plant, the McDonnells also installed two
2.3MW wind turbines on their farm, which were connected
to the national grid in late 2010. “We had the finance
arranged before the collapse in 2008 otherwise we would
probably never have been able to go ahead,” said David.
Each turbine is potentially 10 times more powerful,
depending on wind speeds, in terms of electricity generation
than the AD plant. Last year, the two turbines delivered over
12 times more electricity to the grid than the AD plant. All
in all, the two alternative energy ventures must make the
McDonnell farm among the most carbon efficient in the
country.
Electricity
All animal slurry and litter from the poultry enterprise is
used as feedstock for biogas production. Waste fruit and
vegetables and waste from hatcheries are also sourced from
around the locality. The biogas produced in the anaerobic
digestion process is used as fuel in a combined heat and
power (CHP) engine.
The resultant electricity produced is sold to the national
grid and the heat generated is recycled for heating in
both the AD plant and the poultry enterprise. The electricity
generated by the plant is the equivalent of the total annual
consumption of around 150 homes.
The by-product from the plant is used as fertiliser on the
McDonnell and other farms in the locality. It has significant
economic and environmental benefits, with better availability
of nutrients and reduced odours.
The ambitious project is the culmination of painstaking
research and negotiation through very detailed regulatory
requirements during the planning and plant set-up stages. It
is an expensive and high tech operation.
There are some 4,000 on-farm anaerobic digesters in
Germany.
Revised TAMS for Sheep
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney has introduced a revised TAMS (Targeted
Agricultural Modernisation Scheme) for sheep. The revised scheme, which came into effect on 19 March 2013,
involves an increase in the investment ceiling per holding from €10,000 to €25,000. The grant rate remains
unchanged at 40%.
Approvals issued and grants paid under previous versions of the TAMS sheep fencing/handling scheme will be
taken into account for the purposes of the new scheme. The number of items eligible for grant-aid under the
scheme has been increased to include mobile meal feeders, hay racks, adoption units and tag readers.
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