New combined heat and power (CHP) plants will lead to a significant reduction in harmful greenhouse gases, the Minister for Public Enterprise predicted yesterday. Opening a new CHP plant at Glanbia in Ballyragget, Co Kilkenny, Ms O'Rourke said the promotion of the technology by the Irish Energy Centre led to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

The CHP plant generates almost all the electricity and steam it requires and it was the largest unit proposed in a CHP competition organised by the Irish Energy Centre. A grant of £500,000 (€634,869) was paid by the State and the EU towards the project. The Irish Energy Centre is preparing a CHP policy report which will consider strategies to increase further the use of CHP plants, Ms O'Rourke said.

Funding of £4 million had been secured under the National Development Plan towards the further deployment of high-efficiency CHPs.

In general terms, CHP technologies can convert approximately 75 to 80 per cent of the energy content of fuel into useful energy, whereas conventional electric production systems typically convert just 30 to 40 per cent and even the new combined cycle gas turbine systems are capable of delivering about 50 per cent efficiently, the Minister said.

The plant is the second of two environmental projects in which Glanbia has invested £10 million over the past two years. A waste water treatment unit using technology developed in Japan was installed at Ballyragget last year. About 20 per cent of the Republic's manufacturing milk pool is processed at the factory, which sees an annual throughput of 350 million gallons of milk and whey. Mr John Moloney, Glanbia's deputy managing director, said the upscaling of the Ballyragget operation was a critical aspect of the 1997 merger which formed the company.