The years to come will see Bord na Móna play an ever greater role in the new national effort to ensure Ireland plays its full part in meeting the worldwide challenge. The company is rapidly decarbonising and as it does it is building a new, more sustainable business and Midlands economy. Apart from radically lowering its own carbon profile, by producing nationally significant volumes of low-carbon goods and services it will help other Irish businesses and communities lower their carbon footprints.
Over 80 years ago, Bord na Móna was established to develop Ireland’s peat resources for the economic benefit of Ireland. This peat was used to generate electricity for Irish towns and villages, but more than this, it generated jobs and built communities.
We have a clear focus on environmentally and economically sustainable approaches. Since 2007, our plans have shown an understanding of the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels and restore our peatlands – yet we plan on going further. We want to increase our pace in line with the ambitions of both national and international leaders in a way that is sustainable for our people, our profits and our planet.
Bord na Móna began co-firing with Biomass at our Edenderry Power Plant in 2008. Since then, volumes have increased year-on-year with procurement and supply now supporting a Biomass co-firing rate of 42% at our plant in Edenderry.
Over 70% of the electricity we produce is now generated from renewable sources. Already we power a quarter of a million Irish homes. Our ambition is to double the number of homes we power in the next five years. We plan to achieve this by developing more wind farms, biomass fuel, biogas and solar farms. The company is on track to achieve a 300% increase in its renewable energy output in this decade.
Bord na Móna uses state of the art technology to collect landfill gas from our Drehid location. This gas is then processed and used to fuel a combustion engine which drives generators to create electricity. Today, the landfill gas utilisation facility at Drehid generates enough sustainable and renewable electricity to power 8,500 homes.
of the energy used in Ireland was imported in 2016
of the energy Ireland consumes must come from renewable sources by 2020
of the electricity Bord na Móna generates comes from renewable resources
