Era of peat-fired electricity ends as Edenderry power plant switches fully to burning biomass

The Co Offaly plant is the last of the country’s peat-burning power stations to close or switch to alternative fuel sources. Its move away from peat ends a 74-year industry that decimated vast tracts of the country’s bogs.

Bord na Móna chief executive Tom Donnellan said the milestone honoured a promise the company made in 2018 to completely change its focus and functions.

“Five years ago, Bord na Móna set out on our ambitious ‘brown to green’ strategy to transform the business into a climate solutions and renewable energy leader in Ireland,” he said.

“Today, as we use peat to fuel our Edenderry power station for the final time, we have completed our unprecedented transition to using renewable energy sources and are now one of the largest producers of renewable electricity in the State.”

The move follows the closure of the peat briquette factory at Derrinlough, Co Offaly, last June, which means industrially extracted peat is no longer available for household burning either.

Peatlands are environmentally precious habitats that are hugely effective at storing carbon. Burning them releases more atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide than any other fossil fuel, but using them for heat and power became national policy during World War II.

The first peat-fired electricity generation station opened in Portarlington in 1950 and nine more followed.

Edenderry, which opened in 2000, was one of the last three to be built, despite objections from environmental campaigners who argued that stripping the peatlands could no longer be justified.

At its peak, Edenderry burned 1.2m tonnes of peat a year. Lough Ree and West Offaly stations, which also opened in the early 2000s, burned another two million tonnes annually.

Edenderry, which is undergoing a €100m upgrade, is continuing in operation as a power station, burning biomass that it has been gradually adding to the peat over the past few years.

That switch has not been without controversy, however, since some of the biomass is imported from as far away as Brazil.

Biomass can be crops specifically grown for fuel, such as willow, or waste organic material such as plant stalks, dried solid waste from sewage treatment and farms, or – as in the case of the Brazilian imports – wood chippings

Bord na Móna said it sourced the vast majority of its biomass from Irish suppliers.

“When the remaining biomass required cannot be acquired locally due to volume and suitability constraints, it is supplemented with material sourced internationally as a result,” it said.

The company said its import sources were subject to audits by the Preferred by Nature environmental standards NGO and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Bimass Programme.