New farm biogas plant to be showcased at Galway open day

A newly commissioned farm-scale biogas plant is set to be showcased at a farm walk in Galway this week.

Dairy farmer Brendan Gildea from Dunmore, Co Galway, built the plant as part of the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) small biogas demonstration project.

The key difference between Brendan’s plant and other anaerobic digestion plants currently in development around the country is the scale.

Unlike the larger plants, which upgrade biogas to biomethane to replace natural gas, Brendan’s plant is considerably smaller and instead combusts the biogas in a combined heat and power (CHP) unit to produce electricity that will be used to power his farm.

Feedstock and output

The biogas plant uses only slurry, manure and waste silage as feedstock, all produced on Brendan’s farm. It is supplied with around 4,000 tonnes of feedstock per year and produces approximately 49kWh of electricity.

As part of the EIP project, a 50% capital grant was provided to Brendan to build the farm-scale biogas plant. The overall development cost was just over €450,000.

Brendan is an organic dairy farmer with a 200-cow herd plus youngstock followers on the outskirts of Dunmore town.

He is a pioneering farmer, having been one of the first in Ireland to deploy robotic milking equipment. Today, three generations of the Gildea family are involved in running the farm.

Open day

Brendan and IrBEA are hosting a public open day on Friday 3 October on the farm to showcase the biogas plant. They aim to demonstrate how it enhances and complements the existing farming enterprise.

All figures, operational details, output data and economic insights will be presented on the day.

Farmers who wish to attend must register in advance via this link.