The largest renewable energy plant in Britain or Ireland went on-line in Co Fermanagh today.
The North's energy minister Malcolm Wicks opened the facility at the Balcas wood processing site , outside Enniskillen during a visit to Northern Ireland.
The Balcas renewable energy facility includes a combined heat and power [CHP] plant and an operation that produces a revolutionary new bio fuel known as Brites.
It is the first biomass facility in the world to produce a renewable heating fuel using energy created by burning sawdust and wood chips.
Unveiling the plant Mr Wicks said: "The development of this biomass plant has been a major achievement. In many ways it is a unique contribution to the UK's environmental and energy objectives.
"Biomass plants like these have the potential to play a significant role in meeting our target of 10 per cent of renewable energy by 2010 and they can make a real difference in the fight against climate change."
The CHP plant makes the sawmill site self-sufficient in electricity, saving over £1 million a year, with the surplus electricity sold to the Northern Ireland grid. In addition it powers the largest bio fuel pellet production facility in the UK.
The plant produces 50,000 tonnes of high-energy fuel pellets - displacing fossil fuels and the 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide which would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere.
Balcas managing director Ernest Kidney said the bio fuel pellets were made from compressed timber and were amongst Europe's fastest-growing renewable energy sources.
Speaking at the launch he said: "As the cost of oil and gas continues to rise, our European neighbours are looking to timber bases bio fuel pellets to provide heat, power and price stability.
"Wood is a renewable resource and the bio fuel pellets industry provides a bonus of well-paid rural jobs in harvesting, production and distribution."
He said that based on the European experience, together with demand for Brites over recent months, there was every reason to believe it could provide a substantial percentage of Northern Ireland's energy needs within the next 10 years.
PA