Energy storage project could cost €350m

A PROPOSED 130-acre energy storage facility in the Burren could cost as much as €350 million if plans to develop it proceed.

Approximately 50 residents attended a meeting in Ballyvaughan last week to find out more about the possibility of a Pumped Hydroelectric Energy Storage (PHES) scheme on Gleninagh Mountain between the seaside village and neighbouring Fanore.
Maurice McCarthy from Organic Power Limited, the Cork-based company putting forward the project, suggested that the community should take some time to think about the concept saying, “if it is judged to be a bad idea, we’ll walk away”.
The project, if it were to go ahead, would not be a major source of employment in the long term, generating between one and four jobs in total. However, Mr McCarthy outlined that it may have tourism spin-offs.
Dealing with questions on the ecological impact of such a development, he told the meeting that the company had “done no studies and we will not do any studies unless there is a general feeling that this is something that is worth investing in. Until those studies are done, we cannot answer any detailed questions.”
According to Mr McCarthy, it would take at least six months to develop comprehensive plans to apply to Clare County Council for planning permission.
Mr McCarthy said he will not pursue a project that local people are opposed to and that “general good will is required for us to spend this money”.
He added that the project is in its very early stages and that “it is a long and detailed process of baseline studies. Any one of these could kill this thing off.”
Mr McCarthy added that as part of the multi-million euro project, “there is room for building things that are of benefit to the community”.
Answering questions from the floor, Mr McCarthy said that the project needs to be on “a big scale to make it economically feasible” but that, as outlined and with the backing of the local community, it is economically viable.
From a visual perspective, Mr McCarthy added that there are no plans to erect wind turbines in the area and claimed there would be no pylons connecting the proposed facility with the national grid.
Mr McCarthy said that local landowners have been approached in relation to the sale of land on the mountain and that there has been no opposition in relation to this.
The principal behind PHES schemes is that they accept energy from the electricity grid when production is high relative to demand and then deliver it back to the grid when demand is high relative to production.
Operationally, seawater would be pumped from Galway Bay up an underground pipe with a diameter of more than 20 feet to a reservoir at the top of Gleninagh Mountain. While the design of such a scheme has yet to be finalised, Mr McCarthy stated that this reservoir is projected to take up an area of approximately 130 acres, more than eight times the size of Croke Park, and would have an effective storage capacity of more than 487 million cubic feet. When needed, the water is flushed back down the pipe, generating energy.
A second meeting to discuss the prospective scheme is expected to take place next week.