IrBEA Working Groups
IrBEA relaunches Biogas Subgroup
A successful relaunch meeting of the IrBEA Biogas Policy subgroup took place in February 2021. The meeting was very well attended by IrBEA members who are involved or interested in the biogas sector. It was agreed at the meeting that a survey of IrBEA biogas members would be completed. Anyone interested in being part of this working group should contact Sean Finan at seanfinan@irbea.org
IrBEA hold successful member consultation on the Renewable Heat Plan
IrBEA held a successful online consultation meeting with members on Thursday 21st January 2021. The meeting was chaired by IrBEA President Paddy Phelan. IrBEA members were given an update on the main findings to date in the Renewable Heat plan. Xavier Dubuisson from XD Consulting presented an update on his work to date. Members provided their feedback on the policy measures required to develop the Renewable Heat sector in Ireland.
IrBEA through Renewable Energy Ireland is administering the development of the Renewable Heat Plan for Ireland. This plan is being developed with financial contributions from IrBEA, Renewable Energy Ireland and the Irish District Energy Association (IrDEA). The plan will demonstrate the potential contribution of renewable heat through a mix of technologies to the overall renewable energy target that Ireland must achieve by 2030 with a view to 2050. The report is examining the available resources and technology options that can be used at the different temperature ranges and within the different sectors to decarbonise heat.
IrBEA through the steering group is inputting on the biomass and biogas areas on behalf of our members. The final report will demonstrate the key role of bioenergy including biomass and biogas will have in addressing renewable heat targets at all levels and temperature ranges. The plan will be finalised and launched in the coming weeks.
Update on the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH)
IrBEA continues to hold a weekly meeting with SEAI senior management to address implementation issues associated with the SSRH. Progress is being made on the SSRH implementation by SEAI with inspections of completed systems taking place and more project entering the payments cycle. This progress is a welcome development and IrBEA will continued to work closely with SEAI. If any member has any specific queries or feedback on the SSRH, please contact IrBEA CEO Sean Finan at seanfinan@irbea.org
Katestone Global Air Emissions Report approval expected
In March 2020, IrBEA became aware that there was an issued on EPA licenced sites where the maximum size of biomass boiler that could be installed on licensed sites was 250Kw without triggering a full EPA licence review. In response and following discussions with the EPA and the SEAI, IrBEA commissioned Katestone Global who specialise in air modelling to undertake a study. The objective of this study was to provide detailed and technical information to the EPA so as that a positive decision could be made by the EPA to increase the biomass boiler size limit that could be installed on licensed sites without triggering a license review. A screening framework has been developed to determine what size boiler can be installed on an EPA licensed site and comply with air quality legislative requirements. If approved, this study and the screening framework tool will means that the 250kw boiler limit won’t be a barrier to biomass uptake on most licenced sites and it will unlock the potential of the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) on these sites. The modelling work associated with this report has been very complicated and technical. IrBEA, Katestone Global and the EPA have worked closely on the technical items which arose during the work. IrBEA expects approval by the EPA in the next few weeks. The full report will be available to members once approved by the EPA.
