Over 100 objections had been filed against the project.
Plans for a controversial new renewable gas facility in Laois have got the green light.
10 year permission has been granted to Bord na Móna Powergen Limited for the waste management facility, which will produce biogas for injection into the national grid and digestate for land spreading.
The proposals were granted permission by Laois County Council on 4th January 2021, with 21 conditions attached.
Bord na Móna appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála, which has now given conditional approval itself.
The development is set to be built on a 7 hectare site in Cúil na Móna Bog in the Clonboyne and Clonkeen area of Portlaoise.
Over 100 submissions had been made to Laois County Council opposing the site due to its proximity to residential areas.
Local Fine Gael councillor Thomasina Connell says the approval is very disappointing:
READ MORE: Opposition To Laois Bord Na Móna Biogas Facility Intensifies
The site is located approximately 3.5 kilometres south west of Portlaoise town centre.
Cúil na Móna bog covers an area of approximately 657 hectares. The proposed site is located in the eastern section of the bog.
Through anaerobic digestion this feedstock is converted into both gas which is to be injected into the grid, and digestate
which is to be stored in the digestate lagoon and then exported off-site for land spreading.
Some of the conditions attached to the planning approval include that the a maximum of 80,000 tonnes per annum of raw materials be treated in the anaerobic digesters, and that feedstock deliveries to the site and transport of digestate from the site is confined to between the hours of 08.00 to 18.30 Monday to Friday and 09.00 to 13.00 on Saturdays.
Approximately 70,700m3 of peat will be removed from the site area during the construction phase and will be spread/deposited over existing cutaway bog at typical depths of between 1 metre and 2 metres. Peat deposition areas will be re-vegetated.
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