Over 250 jobs are to be created in Co Offaly through the construction of a new €40 million biomass plant.
Work on the facility, which is to be built in Rhode, will begin early next year.
About 250 jobs will be created during the construction phase, while 65 staff will be employed at the plant when it is completed in mid-2012.
Biotricity’s new 15 MW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) biomass plant, which is to be adjacent to the old ESB Power station that was decommissioned in 2002, will be powered by the supply of willow grown by Irish farmers.
It is intended to generate enough energy to meet the requirements of 5,000 homes – equivalent to a town of the size of Edenderry. In addition, the facility will produce 120,000 tonnes of processed biofuel for the commercial energy market.
The facility will underpin the displacement of the equivalent of 210,000 tonnes of CO2 annually and will thereby make an important contribution to Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
Speaking at the announcement of the facility this evening, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the decision by Biotricity to build the plant was both “good news for the environment and for local jobs”.
Biotricity managing director Declan Kennedy said the plant would make a valuable contribution to the local economy by supporting growers of biomass.
