The Government's Energy Policy Framework 2007 sets out a target for co-firing in peat stations of 30% by 2015. Both ESB and Bord na Móna have been conducting a programme of research and development, including large scale co-firing trials with a variety of materials. The trials have also encompassed laboratory tests on the chemical and physical properties of various materials. Decisions by ESB and Bord na Móna on what material to co-fire and the timing of the move to introduce large scale co-firing will be taken in light of the ongoing trials.
Both companies have been in discussions with a number of market players around sourcing potential supplies for the co-firing material. The companies themselves will be responsible for making the commercial decisions to award any such contracts. The objective is to utilise domestically produced biomass as much as possible, and my Department is working closely with the Department of Agriculture to ensure that their support schemes for energy crops and forestry are in alignment with the scale of demand that may ultimately arise as a result of the co-firing process.
