*Aine McCann and David Murray at the Gort Biogas public meeting 2/11/26 Photo credits: Andreas Riemenschneider
QUESTIONS have been raised over whether sufficient silage could be sourced to supply a proposed biogas plant in Gort, with concerns expressed about both the quantity required and the price being offered to farmers.
The issue was discussed at a public meeting organised by the Gort Biogas Concern Group in Sullivan’s Hotel on Monday night (November 2), attended by more than 140 people.
During a question-and-answer session, Hugo Smith, who runs the Open Sesame health food shop in Gort, asked how much silage would be required to operate the proposed facility and how long that supply would last.
Campaign group member Ciaran O’Donnell said the plant would require 54,000 tonnes of silage annually.
A local farmer questioned whether that volume could realistically be sourced in the area, arguing that the proposed payment of €20 to €25 per tonne would not make supplying the facility financially viable.
He said: “The amount of silage they want is simply not possible in the area. If they offered €100 per tonne of silage, it is just not there.”
He pointed to winter flooding as a further constraint, saying it reduced the amount of agricultural land available for production.
The farmer warned that sourcing the required volume could have serious implications for agriculture across the wider south Galway area.
“If you took that amount of land out, even to supply silage, you would wipe out every farmer in the south of Galway,” he said.
The discussion also turned to the digestate produced by the facility, with the farmer questioning whether sufficient suitable agricultural land would be available to spread it, particularly in the area around the Burren.
Water requirements were another concern. The farmer referred to the volume of water needed to operate the plant, describing it as a “wet plant” and questioning whether local supplies could meet its needs.
He also raised concerns about water pressure in nearby housing estates, saying there was “hardly enough water in the town to have houses”.
He warned that the combined demands for silage, land and water raised serious questions about whether the proposed facility could be accommodated in the area, adding: “You’re just gonna wipe out farming.”
