A leading energy generation company has won a €35m contract to build energy plants in Ireland.

FLI Energy, part of the FLI Group, will construct a number of anaerobic digestion plants, which use food, agricultural and other organic waste to generate gas, electricity and heat.

Under the terms of the new contract, FLI becomes the sole supplier to Envar, part of the ADAS Group, a former UK semi-state with over 60 years experience in the agriculture and biomass sectors.

FLI Energy specialises in energy generation from organic materials by anaerobic digestion, which involves the production of bio-methane gas using naturally occurring micro-organisms, which break down biodegradable organic material in the absence of oxygen. The gas produced is either burned in a combined heat-and-power (CHP) engine to produce electricity and heat for use on site or for export to the electricity grid or alternatively the gas can be upgraded and cleaned for export to the gas grid.

Chairman and CEO of FLI Group, Michael Flynn, says approximately 90% of the company's €50 million annual turnover is now accounted for by projects outside of Ireland. However, he sees very great opportunity for Ireland to join in what he predicts will be a boom period for energy projects using food and agri-wastes, as well as crops such as grass and maize silage, to produce energy.

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Flynn commented: "Last month Dr Arthur Wellinger, President of the EBA, the European Biogas Association, gave a presentation in Dublin where he said there are 6,000 operating AD plants in Germany, employing 17,000 people directly. And last year, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was told by a group led by representatives of the Irish Farmers' Association and University College Cork, that an estimated 15,000 jobs can be created by setting up anaerobic digestion plants in Ireland.

"Faced with an absence of incentives for renewable energy in the Irish market, FLI Energy, in common with similar renewable energy companies, has had to grow our business in Northern Ireland as well as in England, Scotland and Wales. The difference is dramatically illustrated by the fact that a plant generating electricity from waste in Newry gets a return of approximately 28 cent per kilowatt hour from April 2011 whereas a similar plant a few miles down the road in Dundalk would get approximately 9 cent for the same amount of electricity as there is not a tariff for renewable energy currently available in the Republic. Even the proposed tariff of 15c would pale in comparison. In order for the industry to be viable a rate in excess of 20 cent per kilowatt-hour of electricity sold to the grid is needed.

"This will mean that thousands of jobs will be created north of the border and the new plants developed there will take their raw materials from south of the border unless the new government acts quickly and introduces similar tariffs in the Republic of Ireland."

The firm will provide Envar with the full "turn-key" package for all of its anaerobic digestion plants, working in conjunction with its technology partners HoSt BV, Holland and BAL GmbH, Germany and UK-based specialist consultants and contractors together with FLI’s in-house resources.

(JG)