Biomethane plant in Cork that was subject of 20 objections gets go ahead from council

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Cork County Council has granted conditional planning permission for an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility to produce biomethane and bio-based fertilizer near Mitchelstown in north Cork.

The 5.6-hectare site is primarily located in the townland of Corracunna around 2 km from the town and close to the N73 Mitchelstown-Mallow road. The facility would be built on a partially brownfield site with the rest made up of agricultural pastureland and would include three 15m-tall digesters as well as storage tanks and a number of buildings. Landscaping and tree planting are also included in the plan as well as odour abatement technology.

The applicant, Nephin Renewable Gas Corracunna Limited, said the facility would take in manure, slurry, whole crop and other organic matter and use it to produce renewable biomethane that would go into the national gas network, thus reducing the need for fossil fuel natural gas. The facility would also produce bio-based fertilizer as an output of the AD process, replacing chemical fertilizers.

The company said the facility would contribute to national renewable energy targets, help reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions, and directly and indirectly support around 75 local jobs.

Nephin Renewable Gas (NRG), an affiliate company of Nephin Energy, is a renewable energy company established in 2024. Headquartered in Tipperary Town, it says its ambition is to become the leading producer and supplier of biomethane in Ireland. Biomethane is a carbon-neutral renewable gas made from farm and food waste through the AD process.

The Corracunna planning application received over 20 objections from locals who cited concerns such as visual impact, noise and odours, pollution risks, increased traffic and what they claimed was a lack of meaningful consultation with local residents.

One objector said the proposed facility will be approximately 63 metres from their home while a UK Environment Agency benchmark used by planners in Ireland advises that AD facilities should not be located within 200 metres of residential developments.

Another objector said: “The sheer scale of the proposed gas factory is staggering. The proposal is to build a gas producing facility that covers approximately 13 acres, with 12 or 13 silos, tanks, and other structures with heights of up to 15 metres tall. In an area where it is difficult to get planning for an ordinary two storey house, it is hard to imagine a development on this scale could be considered acceptable.”

Objectors to the county council’s decision have four weeks to submit an appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála.