Planning application for 710MW gas-fuelled power plant near Rhode

Plans for a massive 710MW power plant near Rhode have been lodged by Bord na Móna Powergen Ltd.

The proposal is for a gas-fuelled power plant with electricity grid connection and associated buildings and infrastructure on land within the Derrygreenagh bog group.

A planning application for the project has been submitted in recent days directly to An Bord Pleanála under legislation which allows planning applications for strategic infrastructural projects bypass the local authority planning stage.

The development of the power plant will involve the demolition of the existing buildings at the Derrygreenagh Bord na Mona works site.

Some 750 construction phase jobs are expected to accrue while up to 60 personnel are expected to be required for the operation, maintenance and management of the plant over the longer term.

A 600MW power plant was granted permission for the same site in 2010 and the duration of this consent was extended by Offaly County Council in 2019, and will expire in April 2025.

Bord na Móna Powergen says a new consent is necessary to facilitate the installation of modern plant to comply with current industry standards and to enable connection to the national grid.

The previous project approved did not include a grid connection.

This latest project will comprise a combined cycle gas turbine and open cycle gas turbine thermal power plant and electricity grid connection including two substations and associated buildings, on land within the townlands of Knockdrin, Derrygreenagh, Derryarkin, Derryiron, Ballybeg, Coolcor, Barrysbrook, Clonin, Togher and Coole.

The company said the development would “make a significant contribution to addressing security of supply challenges and will complement, and provide back-up to, highly variable renewable sources such as wind and solar.” It said with unprecedented pressure currently being experienced on security of electricity supply the development of new, dispatchable generation capacity is urgently required.

It said it would also “provide a replacement for older, less efficient conventional power plants – that are planned for removal from the system in the short to medium term - with lower carbon technology”. The plant is also designed to facilitate a sustainable long-term transition to renewable fuels such as hydrogen, in line with commitments for blending renewable fuels into the gas network.

The overall site measures some 312 hectares. The area for the proposed power plant is located east of the R400 road, approximately 6km to the north-west of Rhode,

The electricity grid connection starts to the west of the power plant area, where a new 220kV substation will be located. An overhead line and pylon towers will run for some five kilometres to the south of the 220kV substation before being undergrounded at a location one kilometre north of the L1010 Togher road. The underground cable will then continue south, beneath the Togher road, before connecting to a proposed 400kV substation located adjacent to the existing 400kV overhead line network.

The plant will require connection to the gas transmission network, which will be facilitated by way of an above ground installation within the power plant site. A new pipeline connection to the Dublin-Galway gas pipeline will run within a corridor to the north of the site. This pipeline connection will be subject to a separate consent by Gas Networks Ireland (GNI), and does not form part of this planning application, the applicant said.