Bord na Móna - Source Issue 7 - (Page 8)

WilloW is at the centre of Bord na Móna’s co-fuelling activity. We are Making an attractive offer to farMers Who partner With us in our innovative approach WilloW harvest for farmers Willow planting B ord na Móna is well on its way to meeting its 2015 target to co-fire the edenderry power plant to a 30% level with biomass. in 2010, 110,000 tonnes of biomass material passed through the plant, representing a 12% co-firing rate. this leaves Bord na Móna on track to hit a 15% level this year, which will be the fourth year of co-firing. this is critically important to Bord na Móna as the publication of the national renewable energy action plan (nreap) confirmed the key role that co-firing in the peat stations will play in the achievement of ireland’s mandatory renewable target by 2020. Bord na Móna is now the biggest consumer of biomass in the state. More importantly, the 12% co-firing rate resulted in an equivalent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the plant, equating to almost 100,000 tonnes of co2, and resulted in the production of 85,000 MW of dispatchable green electricity. this is sufficient to power approximately 15,000 homes and is equivalent to the annual output from a typical 35MW wind farm. according to John o’halloran, Biomass Manager with Bord na Móna, co-firing with biomass in the three peat-fired electricity generating stations has the potential to create 955 jobs (760 direct and 195 indirect) and, equally importantly, to retain 220 jobs in the peat industry. “We get biomass from two sources: forestry and energy crops,” says John, “from forestry, we get the residue from sawmills and forestry thinnings. in addition, we source biomass such as palm kernel shells, almond shells etc., from abroad. these products tend to be very dry, with a moisture content of c.10%. they are ideal to supplement the combustion of peat/biomass during peak load and maintain maximum availability of the power plant. We call these products ‘rocket fuel’.’’ according to the recent coford report on forest reserves, there will be approximately 600k tonnes of forestry thinnings available per annum from the private sector as a source of fuel over the next 15 years. While there will be competition for this fuel source from a host of planned chp plants in this country, we anticipate increasing our burn of forest products into the future. the two energy crops currently available in ireland are miscanthus and willow. following combustion studies and chemical analysis, willow is our preferred option. Willow needs growers, and to attract farmers, Bord na Móna launched an information campaign last year to showcase the benefits of growing this energy crop. “We had open days to explain the economics of growing willow attended by over 100 farmers and we also took farmers to edenderry power so that they could see where the product ended up. as a result, this spring, we put in 200 acres of willow,” explains John. growing willow represents a new industry for 8 | Source Summer 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bord na Móna - Source Issue 7

Bord na Móna - Source Issue 7
Contents
A Round-Up of News from Around the Company
Willow Harvest for Farmers
New Approach, New Business
Strategic Growth and Development
Challege and Change
Anua Beginning
Raging Inferno
Mapping a Sustainable Future
Project Update
Heritage Corner
Nationwide

Bord na Móna - Source Issue 7