Southern Meats, in partnership with Quantum Power Limited are proposing to convert the treated effluent from the abattoir into biogas by a process known as anaerobic digestion, which will then be used to generate electricity.

A new anaerobic digester will be built at the facility and will be in the form of a covered in-ground lagoon-style digester producing biogas, which will accumulate under the digester cover. 

This gas will then be harvested, scrubbed, de-watered and transported via an underground pipe to a new generator building where it will be utilised in gas generators.

The electricity produced from these generators will then be fed into the Southern Meats processing plant to offset grid-supplied electricity.

Southern Meats CEO Coll MacRury told the Post the facility would be a ‘real win’ both for the company and for the environment.

“Now that the development application is in place and things are starting to progress, we anticipate that the facility should be up and running sometime in 2017,” Mr MacRury said.

“This facility will be a real win for the environment, turning biofuel into energy and then converting that into electricity. But it will definitely be good for us and for the local environment and is certainly the way of the future. We hope to see many other businesses harnessing this idea in the near future.”

The closing date for submissions is by 5pm on June 23.