Taoiseach opens new €32m biomethane facility boosting Ireland’s growing renewable gas industry
Caroline Randall
Marketing Manager
Gas Networks Ireland’s Mitchelstown Central Grid Injection facility can inject enough biomethane to meet 12% of Ireland’s 2030 target.
Cork facility represents another significant infrastructure investment in Munster in light of the €50m Southern Area Upgrade works announced earlier this year.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will officially open Gas Networks Ireland’s new €32 million Central Grid Injection (CGI) facility in Mitchelstown Co. Cork, this afternoon, marking a significant milestone in the development of Ireland’s indigenous biomethane industry.
The facility creates a new route for biomethane producers to supply renewable gas into Ireland’s national gas network but are located too far away to connect directly by pipeline. The Cork-based CGI facility has the capacity to receive renewable gas produced from farm and food waste and is the first of its kind in both Ireland and Europe.
Biomethane produced at independent anaerobic digestion facilities can be transported by trailer to Mitchelstown, where it can be prepared to the required standards and injected into the national gas network. Once injected, the renewable gas can travel to customers through the existing gas pipeline network.
When operating at full capacity, the Mitchelstown CGI facility has the potential to inject up to 700 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of biomethane annually, equivalent to about 12% of the Government’s 2030 target of 5.7 TWh of indigenous biomethane production. The facility could also deliver an estimated 130,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions savings each year.
