Bord na Mona is to invest €1.4 billion diversifying and growing the organisation over the next five years.
Launching the company's annual report today, Bord na Mona's CEO Gabriel D'Arcy said the company's new strategic business direction will work in harmony with, and minimise the impact on, the environment.
Bord na Mona said its turnover for 2007 increased by 24% to €371m, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 14.7% to €52.1m. It said this reflects the contribution of the recently acquired power generation plant in Edenderry and the resource recovery firm, Advanced Environmental Solutions (AES).
The company said it paid a dividend to the Government of €8m in the year, an increase of over €4m on the previous year.
Bord na Mona says it plans to be the leading renewable energy provider in Ireland within five years, and is investing €1.2 billion to this end. It plans to develop about 700mw of wind energy at its Oweninny site in Co Mayo.
The company is also working on a co-fuelling programme at its electricity generating plant in Edenderry, Co Offaly. This involves the burning of various biomass materials including recycled waste timber side by side with peat.
It also intends investing €150m in resource recovery over the next five years. This involves the extraction of useful materials or energy from solid waste. Currently, Bord na Mona, through its AES subsidiary, collects and processes about 300,000 tonnes of material.
Bord na Mona is the custodian of about 200,000 acres of bogland. As part of its biodiversity programme, it says it will not open any new bogs for commercial use. It will also invest €10m in the rehabilitation of cut-away bogs to restore them to their original state.
'Our goal is to guarantee a secure, sustainable and cost effective supply of energy to the Irish consumer,' commented the company's CEO Gabriel D'Arcy. He said the volatility of traditional energy sources makes this all the more important.
