Assembly Written Question 11549/17-22

Question: To ask the Minister for the Economy, pursuant to AQW 9679/17-22, for her assessment of whether the cancellation of this project will have an impact on the poultry sector in Northern Ireland.

Answer: The Glenmore Anaerobic Digestion Facility has experienced a number of challenges at various stages including design challenges and operational difficulties. It is currently operational and uses poultry litter from Northern Ireland as a feedstock, and provides cheaper, green energy for two large Northern Ireland manufacturers. Some 200,000 tonnes per annum of poultry litter is produced in Northern Ireland. Due to the nutrient content of this litter, the poultry sector needs to utilise it in a sustainable way. Therefore, alternative processing outlets are needed as not all the poultry litter produced can be sustainably spread on land as a fertiliser in Northern Ireland Since the plant commenced operations in 2017, it has processed over 37,000 tonnes or about 6% of the Northern Ireland poultry litter produced. If this outlet was not available, the poultry sector would need to source additional outlets to sustainably utilise the poultry litter currently being processed at the plant. However, given the percentage of poultry litter currently processed at the plant, this may not have a significant impact on the poultry sector.