Mayo Renewable awards $450m contract to Veolia to operate biomass plant in Ireland

Veolia Energy Services, a subsidiary of French waste management company Veolia has received a $450m contract from Mayo Renewable to operate a biomass power plant in Killala, Ireland.

The wood- fuelled biomass power plant is expected to generate 42.5MW of combined heat and power, which is enough to power 68,000 homes.

Apart from operating and maintaining the power production plant, Veolia Energy Services will also operate and maintain the fuel processing plant, which is adjacent to Mayo’s power production plant.

The company is also expected to supply biomass fuel required to run the facility.

The 15-year contract is expected to create 30 new jobs at the facility in Killala. Operation at the plant is expected to commence in mid-2017.

Veolia said that it would use technology that has been deployed at Veolia’s biomass facilities at Merritt and Fort St. James in British Colombia, Canada.

The Merritt plant has capacity of 40 MW which is enough to power almost 40,000 Canadian households.

Veolia UK and Ireland senior executive vice president Estelle Brachlianoff said: "This project marks a significant step on Ireland’s path towards developing sustainable energy solutions.

"We are looking forward to collaborating with our project partners to deliver best in class energy management for the successful delivery of this milestone project."