Bord na Móna is applying for planning to part-convert its two peat-fired power stations to biomass and will trade biomass for other customers, it announced at the Energy in Agriculture conference.

It will offer 15-year contracts to suppliers of energy crops and timber byproducts, but will also import until Irish growers can meet demand, managing director Mike Quinn said on Tuesday. While the IFA remains in discussions with the State company for a potential 60,000t straw contract, Bord na Móna’s head of biomass Patrick Madigan said it would primarily buy willow and forestry biomass.

“We are looking for wood fibre. We are cautious about straw at the moment.”

Read more

Listen: renewable heat scheme details emerging slowly