AQW 11550/17-22
Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim
Tabled Date: 04/12/2020
Answered On Date: 18/12/2020
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy, pursuant to AQW 9679/17-22, to detail (i) the location of the Anaerobic Digestion plant; (ii) the terms of the loan; (iii) how much of the loan has been repaid to date; (iv) the private investor that also contributed funding; and (v) what progress there had been in constructing the plant.
Answer:
The Glenmore Anaerobic Digestion plant is a private and public sector funded initiative to support the build of an operational Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant in Donegal. The aim of the project was to help resolve a significant local environmental and economic issue, and to help Northern Ireland comply with EU nitrates targets to positively impact the poultry sector and the wider Northern Ireland economy. The plant uses poultry litter from Northern Ireland as a feedstock, and provides cheaper, green energy for two large Northern Ireland manufacturers. Funding for the scheme is via both private and public sector investment. Invest NI provided £9.3m funding as a commercial loan via the Sustainable Utilisation of Poultry Litter (SUPL) Scheme. This was alongside a £14m commercial loan from SQN Asset Finance (SQN) and a £1m equity injection. Both commercial loans were provided under the same terms and conditions and SQN has since invested further funds into the project. The loan was made on the basis that once the plant was operational and profitable the loan would be repaid by quarterly capital and interest repayments. No loan repayments have been made to date. Construction of the plant is complete. The project is currently operational and uses poultry litter from Northern Ireland as a feedstock, and provides cheaper, green energy for two large Northern Ireland manufacturers.
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