Poultry biomass plant for Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Assembly has approved a poultry biomass fuelled power plant, meeting the approval of farmers but enraging members of the local community opposed to its construction.

The Rose Energy Ltd plant is set to be built at Lough Neagh, Glenavy in County Antrim near Belfast and will incinerate about 250,000 tonnes of poultry bedding, manure, meat and bone meal each year generating 30MW of electricity.

Northern Ireland Environment Minister Edwin Poots announced his intention to approve plans for the construction of the facility on 3 September, acknowledging the significant local opposition to the project.

“I am fully aware of both the opposition and support for the power plant, and that I have a judgement to make between the benefits of the proposal to the poultry industry and the Northern Ireland economy and the potential adverse impacts on residential,” said Mr Poots.

“Having given the proposal careful consideration, including visiting the site and viewing it from Lough Neagh, I am satisfied that on balance it should be approved.”

Residents groups though are unhappy the proposed development will be going ahead with local activist group, Communities Against Lough Neagh Incinerator (CALNI), vowing they will start legal action to overturn the approval.

President of CALNI, Danny Moore, told the Ulster Star newspaper he saw the approval as a failure of policy and the democratic process.

“The fact that it has been made by a locally elected minister in the face of such overwhelming opposition marks a complete failure of both planning policy and the democratic process,” said Mr Moore.

“Almost 7000 people submitted objections to the application – the highest number of objections ever submitted against a planning application in Northern Ireland.”

Farmers though have welcomed the development, with the Ulster Farmers’ Union saying the incinerator will give poultry farmers a long term solution to the problem of disposing of poultry waste.

“We support the Rose Energy proposal as we believe it is the only viable option that will safeguard the future of the poultry industry and the thousands of primary production; processing and ancillary jobs which depend on it,” UFU President John Thompson said.

“The minister’s decision now paves the way for progress to be made to implement a solution for the poultry industry.”

Mr Thompson also said the UFU had worked since 2002 to have such a facility constructed as Northern Ireland farmers will be unable to spread poultry litter in fields from 1st January 2011 under the EU’s nitrates directive.

The construction of the plant will generate 300-400 jobs with apprioximately 30 permanent jobs remaining once the facility is built.