Mr. Mike Quinn:

The three power stations will need 1.2 million tonnes to run effectively. Today in Edenderry we are successfully bringing in 330,000 tonnes of biomass, of which 130,000 tonnes are sourced domestically. The Deputy is absolutely right that there is not enough biomass in the country to supply the power stations or the biomass briquettes we need to produce. We also need 90,000 tonnes of green waste for our compost in the Kilberry facility. Given that smokeless coal needs 50,000 tonnes of biomass and that there are some CHP projects on which we are working, in 2020 we will need in the region of 2 million tonnes. Add to that the two Coillte board factories, which need 800,000 tonnes, we are looking at needing approximately 3 million tonnes in 2020. However, that should be seen as an opportunity for Bord na Móna and for this country. We can develop an international supply chain to deliver that. The private forestry sector will be bigger than Coillte by 2030 as successive Governments have invested significantly in grants for the private forestry sector, for which we are getting nothing at the moment. These trees will only come to maturity over the next decade. We are considering how we can mobilise the private forestry sector and have set ourselves a target whereby 500,000 tonnes of the required 3 million tonnes will come from the domestic private forestry sector.

Today we have 650 acres of farmland under willow. The yields from those 650 acres are surpassing our original expectations and we have a target of 5,000 acres over the next three to four years. We are working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Teagasc on that and are confident we will be able to do it. The vast bulk of supply will come from international sources while the private forestry sector is coming on stream. The Drax station in the UK, about which Mr. Horgan spoke, imports 6 million tonnes of biomass per annum and supplies it successfully to power stations, supplying 8% of the UK power industry. It has had a successful conversion on three of its six power stations already. The scale has been demonstrated internationally.