Clare site for €800m hydro energy plant

A feasibility study undertaken on a site near 30 ‘industrial’ wind turbines in West Clare indicates it would be suitable for the development of a Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) project costing between €500 and €800 million, one of the promoters has claimed.
West Clare Renewables chairman, Pádraig Howard, has confirmed that a world-renowned Canadian company has completed a study that concluded Slievecallan has the necessary characteristics for the successful development of PHES.
However, Mr Howard also acknowledged the project still has to be subject to a stringent Environmental Impact Statement and further consultation and negotiations with the local community and land owners.
Stressing the promoters were still in negotiations with land owners, he explained that a planning application would probably not be ready until next year, subject to a successful outcome to negotiations and the completion of an EIS.
If the PHES secured planning permission, he estimated it could cost between €500 and €800m, depending on the scale of the project. While the PHES could be linked to 30 wind turbines, which have already received planning permission on Slievecallan, he stressed this was a “stand-alone” development, which had no connection with the proposed provision of 45 wind turbines near Doonbeg and a separate development of turbines in Coore.
Atlantic Force Hydro Force Ltd has applied to EirGrid for a connection of 800 MW on Mount Callan. The only applications in Ireland larger than this are for the EuropaGrid Interconnector (700MW) and the Codling Wind Park (3)(1,000MW). A director of Atlantic Force Hydro Force Ltd gave a presentation at the Planning for Renewables conference in May 2010 in Ennis, where Slievecallan was presented as a location for PHES. In this presentation the upper water reservoir appears to be situated where presently the protected Slievecallan Mountain Bog Natural Heritage Area is located. The lower reservoir seems to require flooding large tracts of low-lying ground somewhere between Barony Bridge and Ballynoe townland.
His comments came following a submission on the proposed PHES on Mount Callan by 67 residents in West Clare, which has been lodged with Clare County Council.
When Clare County Council voted in the new County Development Plan in January 2011, it maintained the status of Natural Heritage Areas despite recommendations from the Department of the Environment to upgrade the protection status, a recommendation rejected by the councillors.
County manager Tom Coughlan had recommended a section of the Development Plan should be amended to recognise the important role of pumped hydro storage facilities in helping the county meet its targets for renewable electricity generation. In the comprehensive submission, residents requested that public consultation on the proposed PHES development take place as soon as possible with the communities living in the area. They called for transparency in relation to the long-term objectives of the proposed development of PHES in relation to future development, for example, further development of wind farms, grid connections, links with other developments, future sale and decommissioning plans.
“Is this part of a larger plan? If so, the communities affected should be informed as soon as possible and opportunities provided for meaningful discussion and community involvement.
“There should be a thorough and objective assessment of the environmental, economic and social benefits and detriments of PHES and its associated works of wind farms, pylons, grid connections to the local community.
“There should be a thorough and objective assessment of the proposed PHES’s medium to long-term economic viability and that there is clarity surrounding the level and type of subsidies, if any, that may be involved,” they stated.
They also sought thorough and objective assessment of the impacts on the local environment and that the natural heritage designation on the summit of Slievecallan  and of the impacts of PHES on local water quantity, quality and management in the context of the obligatory standards and practices under the EU Water Framework Directive.
Requesting adherence to the EU directives on birds, habitats, water and groundwater, it sought measures to deal with the potential for landslides, while planning applications should contain detailed, honest information in EIS studies, with maps and visual representations that follow best practice guidelines.  “Developers should be encouraged to provide a compensation programme for locals who are impacted by the development and that a range of options be made available, from a purchase of property at a fair price option to free electricity for households and local businesses, to free electric vehicle public transport for the locality. Real benefits from the development should be available to all members of the community,” they stated.