Industry responds to Taoiseach’s opening of Mitchelstown biomethane facility – urgent action needed to deliver 2030 target

The Renewable Gas Forum Ireland (RGFI) has welcomed the opening of Gas Networks Ireland’s new €32 million Central Grid Injection facility at Mitchelstown as an important foundation for Ireland’s indigenous biomethane industry – but warned that urgent policy and market action is now required to ensure sufficient biomethane production to utilise this infrastructure and deliver Ireland’s 2030 ambition.

The facility, officially opened by Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Friday, has the potential to inject up to 700 GWh of biomethane annually into the national gas network at full capacity – equivalent to approximately 12% of the Government’s 5.7 TWh biomethane target for 2030.

However, RGFI said that, at the current pace of policy and market delivery, Ireland is not on a trajectory to achieve the Government’s target.

“Ireland is not currently on a trajectory to achieve the 2030 target. The infrastructure now being delivered – both by Gas Networks Ireland and by developers – must be matched by the market support mechanisms, policy certainty and implementation timeline required to unlock investment,” said Nick Bennett, CEO of RGFI.

He added:

“Mitchelstown is an important milestone and demonstrates what can be achieved when ambition is translated into delivery. Gas Networks Ireland has put a significant piece of strategic infrastructure in place and a number of developers are progressing projects to come on stream over the next 12 months. However, despite private capital being available and demand emerging from energy users, many additional projects remain on hold awaiting the necessary Government action.

“The challenge now is to build on this momentum. With just over three years remaining to 2030, Ireland still has no certainty on the long-awaited Renewable Heat Obligation, nor has Government put in place a multi-annual capital support framework or addressed the planning, regulatory and market barriers that continue to affect investment decisions.

“Cross-departmental action is also required to unlock the wider value from anaerobic digestion, including the potential for digestate to support nutrient recovery and fertiliser replacement, alongside the development of markets for biogenic CO₂ and other valuable co-products.

“Without these issues being addressed, there is a real risk that Ireland will not develop sufficient biomethane production at the scale required to fully utilise strategic infrastructure such as the new Mitchelstown injection facility and meet the national target of 5.7 TWh. The scale of the opportunity now needs to be matched by the pace of Government delivery.”

RGFI said the opportunity from developing an indigenous biomethane industry extends considerably beyond renewable energy.

Biomethane can provide an indigenous, storable renewable gas to help decarbonise industrial heat and other hard-to-electrify energy uses, while reducing Ireland’s reliance on imported fossil gas.

It can also underpin a wider circular bioeconomy in rural Ireland – using sustainably sourced farm and food-based feedstocks to produce renewable gas, returning nutrients to the land through digestate and bio-fertiliser, and creating opportunities for higher-value biogenic CO₂ and other bio-refinery co-products.

Nick Bennett added:

“Biomethane connects a number of Ireland’s most important policy challenges. It can strengthen energy security, provide competitive pathways for industry to decarbonise, support farm incomes and rural enterprise and create new opportunities around bio-fertilisers, water quality management and the wider circular bioeconomy.

“Friday’s opening demonstrates that the infrastructure is being built and the industry is moving. The priority now is to ensure that policy and market development keep pace.”