John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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181. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied with the progress enabling farmers to participate in or initiate anaerobic digestion for energy purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25108/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Overall national energy policy formation is the direct responsibility of my colleague Minister Darragh O’Brien in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC). My Department works closely with DECC on energy related matters from an agricultural perspective, as well with a wide range of industry and other stakeholder groupings.

The importance of increasing renewable energy generation across all sectors of the economy has been highlighted through the inclusion of ambitious targets for this area in the Climate Action Plan.

As the Deputy is aware, my department co-led on the development the National Biomethane Strategy which was published last May. This was Ireland’s first major policy statement on biomethane and was first and foremost Agri-centric.

Upon publication of the Strategy, my department also announced it had secured funding for a capital grant under REPowerEU and this was made available to kickstart an agri-led biomethane industry.

Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants currently operating to produce biogas were eligible for this capital support to upgrade their facilities to produce biomethane along with new biomethane production facilities. Applicants proposing to produce biomethane from agricultural feedstocks were eligible to apply for this initial capital funding, as a key aim of the initial grant support was to develop an agri-led AD plant.

The strategy highlighted the importance of farm scale AD plants for the sector and my department has engaged with Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) over a potential funding model for smaller scale AD. As part of these engagements, my department has funded research to demonstrate the viability of smaller on-farm AD plants.

Another project my department has funded is an EIP Small Biogas Demonstration Programme. This project on farm in Galway, led by IrBEA is currently at its final stages with the pilot AD facility fully commissioned and operating.

Both large and small models are important, especially the smaller model in the context of achieving buy-in from farmers, the rural community, and the Agri-sector stakeholders.