ESB sells stake in Irish Power Systems

ESB has sold its 50% holding in Irish Power Systems (IPS), the waste to energy group. The company has been jointly owned by ESB and Electric Power Systems since 1999. Bioverda has bought IPS for €17million.

IPS has been producing energy from the by-product of waste landfill at seven sites across Ireland. The process pipes the methane gas which is created at landfill and uses it to produce in excess of 20 megawatts of energy for the national grid. Methane is a greenhouse gas, its use for energy production is regarded as an environmentally friendly way of dealing with some of the methane, a natural by-product of waste. Irish Power Systems developed the process in Ireland and has been operating and managing the sites for the past number of years. The sites are located in Dublin, Cork, Wicklow and Kildare. At Dunsink, Co. Dublin, Baleally, Co. Dublin, Ballyogan, Co. Dublin, Friarstown, Co. Wicklow, Tramore Valley, Co. Cork, Arthurstown, Co. Kildare and Silliot Hill, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare.

ESB purchased the fifty per cent share in 1999 and since then has worked to develop the business into a profitable and sustainable venture, working in co-operation with Electric Power Systems.

ESB will focus its renewable growth strategy through Hibernian Wind Power, which has three large scale wind farms in operation and is in the process of developing a number of new sites throughout the country. The purchaser, Bioverda, is a newly formed division of NTR. It involves businesses in biogas, methane and biofuel. Bioenergy, which is a form of renewable energy, is becoming increasingly important as consumption of the world's energy resources increases. The current debate around the future of fossil fuels has given a new impetus to bioenergy and renewable energy in general.