Bioverda to invest €50m in biodiesel
Saturday October 21 2006
Revealing details of the plan, Bioverda chief executive John Mullins said the plant will have the capacity to produce enough diesel to take a 5pc slice of the Irish transport fuel market.
Bioverda's new plant will be one of the largest such plants in Europe and will employ around 30 people directly.
The biodiesel refinery will convert locally sourced and imported vegetable oils from rapeseed and other crops into biodiesel which can be used to directly substitute mineral diesel.
Mr Mullins said the refinery will provide Irish farmers with a new income stream as well as contributing towards Ireland's energy security and independence.
At present, there are some 10,000 hectares under rapeseed cultivation, a figure which would have to rise to 150,000 hectares just to satisfy the appetite of the plant for feedstock.
The refinery offers beet farmers to chance replace some of their lost income, and Mr Mullins expects an exponential rise in the acreage under rapeseed over the next few years as beet farmers in particular take to the crop.
In the meantime the plant will have port access so it can accept economically viable quantities of feedstock vegetable oils.
Construction is expected to start within the next 12 to 18 months, subject to planning. The facility will have a production capacity of 200,000 tonnes of biodiesel per annum, enabling it to compete in an expanding international biodiesel market, Mr Mullins said.
Meanwhile, construction of Bioverda's two biodiesel facilities in northern and central Germany is nearing completion with commissioning of the first plant due be completed in November.
- Pat Boyle
