BORD NA MÓNA (BnM) has said that briquette manufacturing at its last remaining factory will end in 2024.

The semi-state company has one remaining briquette factory in Derrinlough, Co Offaly which will continue to manufacture until 2024.

BnM today formally ended all peat harvesting on its lands as part of its ‘brown to green’ strategy.

The harvesting of peat was fully suspended in Bórd na Móna bogs in June last year as the company moved towards its rehabilitation plan. 

BnM chief executive Ton Donnellan said progress in the past two years has left the company “now fully focused on renewable energy generation, recycling and the development of other low carbon enterprises”. 

“While there are many advantages to the changes we have made, the key benefits include the high value, sustainable employment we are providing and the significant support we are delivering to Ireland’s objective, to become carbon neutral by 2050,” he said. 

The company’s last full peat harvest took place in 2018, followed by a partial harvest in 2019 and a full suspension of harvesting operations last year.

“The company has today decided to make this suspension permanent and cease any remaining harvesting preparations, including planning and substitute consent applications.”

In November, the Cabinet approved €108 million in State funding for a rehabilitation plan of Bord na Móna peatlands in the Midlands.

The restoration project will focus on 80,000 acres of BnM bogs.

It aims to protect the 109 million tonnes of carbon stored in these bogs and sequester a further 3.2 million tonnes of carbon.