Gas Networks Ireland, Bia Energy to integrate biomethane into Dublin's gas network

Gas Networks Ireland announced an agreement with Bia Energy on May 30, enabling biomethane from the Bia Energy facility at Huntstown to be injected directly into the gas network.

Gas Networks Ireland will extend its existing network to establish Dublin’s inaugural direct renewable gas entry point at Bia Energy’s newly reconfigured €63mn ($68.4mn) anaerobic digestion facility in Huntstown. This collaboration follows the recent unveiling of the National Biomethane Strategy by the government.

Biomethane is fully compatible with the current national gas network, as well as with all existing appliances, technologies, and vehicles utilizing gas.

Bia Energy, a division of the Sretaw group founded by Irish businessman Eamon Waters, oversees the Huntstown anaerobic digestion facility. Acquired by Sretaw last year, the facility is undergoing extensive reconfiguration to process a diverse range of organic materials, including food waste, food processing residues, and dairy and agricultural wastes. The anaerobic digestion process will also yield biofertiliser as a by-product, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional chemical fertilisers and yielding significant environmental benefits.

The Huntstown plant is poised to contribute up to 120 gigawatt hours (GWh) of biomethane annually to the national gas network, effectively more than doubling the volume of biomethane injected in 2023.