Gas Networks Ireland has connected College Group's new €30 million biomethane facility in Nobber, County Meath, to the national gas network, enabling the company to feed renewable gas produced from food and agri-food waste directly into the grid.

College Group has operated in Nobber since 1989 and now employs more than 150 people; the company does not disclose turnover or profit. Gas Networks Ireland is the state-owned operator of Ireland's gas network, absorbed into a single entity following the June 2024 dissolution of parent group Ervia.

The structural driver is Ireland's target of producing 5.7 terawatt hours of biomethane annually by 2030, a goal the State is pursuing through connection agreements with seven contracted producers, of which College Group's Nobber plant is one. Those seven producers together represent almost 13% of that 2030 target.

The facility, supported by a €2.4 million government capital grant, uses anaerobic digestion to convert commercial food waste into biomethane, with capacity to produce up to 75GWh annually. A portion of the output fuels College Group's own site and its bioCNG heavy goods vehicles under an offtake agreement with Flogas, while the remainder enters the national network for wider use.

Gas Networks Ireland chief executive David Kelly said the connection was "a powerful signal of the momentum now building behind Ireland's biomethane industry," adding that it demonstrates the country "has the capability to develop, connect and utilise indigenous renewable gas at scale."

College Group commercial director John Paul Gilroy said the facility "transforms food and agri-food by-products into renewable gas," describing the connection as "a major achievement for our team" and noting the company is "not only producing renewable energy but also finding ways to use it within our own business."

The Nobber plant is the newest addition to College Group's circular economy park, which the company says delivers close to 200,000 tonnes of CO2 savings annually across its operations, and follows a second biomethane producer connecting to the network this month.

For the sector, the connection shows Ireland's indigenous biomethane pipeline moving from policy target to physical infrastructure, with anaerobic digestion increasingly positioned as a route to decarbonise transport and industrial gas demand without new import dependency.

Source: gasnetworks.ie