Planning thumbs-up for €30m thermal treatment plant

Offaly County Council has granted planning permission for a new €30m thermal treatment facility in Tullamore. The council last week granted permission to Glanpower Ltd, to develop the renewable energy from waste facility, to be located adjacent to Derryclure landfill, five kilometres from Tullamore. The 82,000 square-foot facility, to be known as the Derryclure Energy Centre, will be Ireland's first pyrolysis facility and will be fuelled by an annual intake of between 65,000 and 75,000 tonnes of biomass and mixed municipal waste. Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of waste in the absence of an external oxygen supply. The pyrolysis process takes place under the temperatures typically around 500 degrees celsius. The development will include a 19 metre-high and a 30 metre-high vent stack. Developers previously indicated their intention to commence construction by the end of 2011, with a view to the facility beginning operations during 2012. The facility could create 200 construction jobs and another 50 to 70 full-time operational posts. The planning permission was opposed a local residents's group, which lodged a submission with the council. At this stage, it's unclear if the group will appeal the grant of planning permission to An Bord Pleanála.