Commenting on the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee’s decision to support the Rose Energy proposal at its meeting on 12th January, the company’s chief executive Osvaldo Mauro Hun, said:

“We very much welcome the decision made by the Agriculture Committee to support our proposal to build a 30MW biomass power station in Country Antrim, given its importance for Northern Ireland’s agri-food industry. The Committee has stated that the Rose Energy proposal is ‘the only viable option that will safeguard the future of the poultry sector and the farm businesses which depend on it, as well as helping the industry meet the challenge of EU Environmental Directives.’ The Committee has also stated that their decision is based on scientific advice presented by the Department, which concludes that combustion of poultry litter is the only commercially viable solution for the industry.

“Our proposals are based on robust technology which has been tried and tested in the UK and Europe for many years. As well as providing a safeguard for the poultry sector, which is Northern Ireland’s second largest employer, our project will also provide enough energy to power 25,000 homes and go a long way towards helping the Executive meet its renewable energy obligations. We are very hopeful of a positive planning decision on our project over the next few weeks, and after four years of researching and developing our proposals we look forward to making this scheme a reality.”