The MoU with IFA will see Biotricity making initial purchases of straw during 2014 for plant testing and commissioning purposes and full purchasing in 2015 for continuous operations at the proposed plant; as well as covers a framework pricing agreement for straw ‘on the ledge’.
The pricing agreement sets a base price of €30 ($40) per tonne with bonuses for reduced moisture level plus a €2($2.7) per tonne straw conditioning bonus for material conditioned by the supplier combined with a guaranteed index linked upward only price review every year, the company claims.
The company will begin construction of the plant at the end of the first quarter of 2014 and will commission in late 2015 and begin full scale generation in 2016.
The plant will create 200 construction and 44 operational jobs plus an additional 19 jobs in logistical support with over 80% of the capital spend going to Irish engineering companies.
The plant, which will consume 90,000 tonnes of straw per annum, will generate approximately €7m ($9.35m) in revenue to its farmer suppliers and curb Ireland’s carbon emissions by circa 77,000 tonnes per annum.
