East Cork firm to invest €6m in green energy plant

A waste management company in East Cork has announced plans to invest €6m in the construction of a green energy plant which will transform food waste into enough electricity to power 3,000 homes.
East Cork firm to invest €6m in green energy plant

Youghal-based Eras Eco said it will build the plant at its existing facility at Foxhole in Youghal, creating up to 15 full-time jobs, and feed the electricity — enough to power every home in the town — into the national grid.

Work on the facility, which has full planning permission, will start over the coming months, creating up to 20 jobs during the construction phase.

The plant will use a process called natural anaerobic digestion — a process which is already in use at numerous sites and farms throughout the country — to transform food waste from households, food producers and the catering industry into green biogas.

The gas will then, in turn, be converted into electricity at an on-site combined heat and power plant operate almost emission free.

The facility will operate under a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Eras Eco general manager Denis Mullally said the company was delighted to be able to create 15 full-time jobs.

“It is great that the contents of people’s brown bins will be able to generate enough electricity to power every house in Youghal using clean technology promoted by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

“The plant will also produce organic fertiliser for use by local farmers,” he said.

The company emphasised the new plant will not increase the existing footprint of its waste processing facility in Youghal.

It also said the overall waste processed at the plant will reduce as a result of the new investment.

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