Sponsored
By Agriland Team
Share this article
Sponsored by
The benefits of small anaerobic digestion (AD) systems for on-farm energy use, or indeed for export to the grid, has been a subject of much discussion recently.
Local Power Ltd has a keen interest in agri-based large-scale biomethane and, with their Austrian partners Biogest, have a Power Compact small-scale AD solution available for farms.
With an expected 50% grant to be announced soon, the solution does make sense for a few farmers, but a very careful on-farm assessment needs to be made to avoid a costly mistake.
With Local Power’s solar PV and battery storage generation solutions, it is much easier to do the analysis, and to design and install a solution that is bankable and delivers on performance and economic expectations.
And the recent budget has seen significant improvements to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) grants available to farmers for solar PV and battery storage investment.
For almost all farmers, solar PV makes absolute sense.
Feel free to get in touch with Local Power to see how the improved grants can help you slash escalating energy bills for generations to come.
However, the situation is much less clear when it come to small scale AD.
There are a number of complex factors to consider in the case of small-scale AD, that when properly assessed, narrow down the pool of suitable farms considerably.
Firstly, there is the issue of on-farm energy usage: when it occurs; what ESB network grid connection agreement is in place; and what has to happen by way of upgrade and investment before you can progress with an AD project.
All of this needs to be carefully considered and assessed.
And if a farm does not have a three phase supply, then small scale AD is a non-runner, according to Local Power.
Will you need to increase your grid connection agreement, and what will that add to monthly charges?
Will you have to factor in battery storage, and how much, to ensure that as much of the generation as possible is used on the farm?
This is much more easily assessed when designing a solar PV and battery storage system.
An AD unit generates a specific amount of kWh of electricity 24/7, so unless your farm has a constant energy demand (e.g., a pig farm or horticulture), a grid connection agreement to export electricity will be critical.
Doing an economic analysis on what you might be paid in the future for export to the grid is a risky business, as nobody can predict what the utilities will pay unless some type of long-term grid agreement is secured in advance.
Unfortunately, such agreements are not currently available in the market.
However, there is a government-supported scheme, Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS), which may deliver up to 13c/kWh for up to 15 years.
This may be worth progressing if on-farm AD is on your agenda.
However, from any analysis Local Power has done, the bulk of the electricity generated needs to be used in the farm business for small AD to make any sense.
Then there is the issue of feedstock availability and management.
On most – but not all – Irish dairy farms, slurry is available for no more than six months of the year.
What impact does this have on supplying feedstock 12 months of the year, and what infrastructure has to change or be built to accommodate storage of the digestate at the end of the AD process?
On the other hand, with solar PV, all you need to do is keep an eye on the app to ensure it is operating as expected.
How much time will be required to feed, manage and maintain the AD plant every week, who does it, and what expertise is required?
How much are the likely annual maintenance and repair bills, and what is the impact on economics?
With solar PV, maintenance is low, with no moving parts, and cleaning the panels every couple of years is the main issue to deal with.
Have a look at the substrate matrix link below, which is an example of generation output for a 100kW Biogest Power Compact from a combination of cattle slurry supplemented with maize or grass silage.
The first thing to note here is that the slurry value is based on a typical European farm set-up where livestock are indoors 24/7, 365 days a year.
In reality, very few farms will be able to run a farm-based AD plant without substantial silage/maize feedstock available daily to deliver the kWh of electricity expected.
Pig farms have slurry 24/7, but the % dry matter and gas potential are limiting factors, and hopefully this will be addressed when an economic dewatering solution for pig slurry is available.
There are a number of larger scale robotic dairy farms with cows in 24/7 and these may very well fit the bill for small-scale AD, as well as large-scale beef finishers, pig producers, and horticultural set-ups where there is a constant flow of wastes available.
So, in summary, we see potential for small AD on a limited number of Irish farms, where the combination of farm type and size, feedstock availability (slurries, crop waste, etc.), energy use profile, and grid connection align to make the project economically viable.
Local Power Ltd, with our partners Biogest, will do the analysis and provide a quick and honest assessment on the viability of small AD for your farm.
Unfortunately, for most the advice will be to look at an alternative option, such as solar PV and battery storage, to address your on-farm energy costs going forward.
For more information on the best options available to farmers to deal with escalating energy costs, call Local Power Ltd anytime.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Share this article
Sponsored by
Rural Life
Agri-Business
Opinion
Schemes
Tillage
dairy women ireland
Beef
Agri-Business
Agri-Business
an Agriland Media company
Stay on top of your news on the go.
Download the Agriland app today.
© 2026 Agriland Media Ltd.

source