Controversial biogas production plant gets approval from Laois County County

A controversial biogas production plant planned near Portlaoise has been given planning approval.

Laois County Council has given conditional approval to Bord na Móna Powergen Ltd for the plant in Cúil Na Móna Bog within the townland of Clonboyne and Clonkeen, Portlaoise.

The plant could take in up to 655,000 tonnes of waste a year, most of it trucked into Laois from other counties, including brown bin and poultry industry waste.  The waste would then be rotted in tanks with the gasses collected and sold to replace fossil fuel gas.

Bord na Móna says the anaerobic digestion facility will be a continuous process and the plant will operate on a three-shift 24/7 basis. Waste deliveries and collections will 'only' occur from 8 am to 6.30 pm Monday to Friday and 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays.

Up to 30,000 truck trips year could be required to see 80,000 tonnes of organic waste supplied to the facility.

The gas produced will be supplied to the national grid in Portlaoise via a pipeline along the Mountrath Road.

The application received some 260 objections from local people, with many listing concerns at the potential smell.  The decision could result in an appeal by those objectors to An Bórd Pleanála. 

Bord na Móna owns the big waste company AES. The company previously tried to build a plant along the Mountmellick road near Portlaoise beside the Kyletalesah landfill.