Plans to be lodged for local power station demolition

The ESB is set to seek planning permission in the next fortnight to demolish the West Offaly Power Station in Shannonbridge.

Also being sought is planning approval for the development and operation of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and a Synchronous Condenser (Sync Con).

The ESB recently published a planning notice signalling its intention to apply to Offaly County Council for planning permission for the project, which it said would be carried out in two phases.

The development, if approved, will involve the demolition of the iconic 80-metre-high stack as well as the rest of the station, including a boiler house and turbine house.

Also earmarked for demolition are a plethora of other buildings on the 35.5 hectare site including among others the intermediate peat storage building, electrical building, lorry unloading building, offices, labs, workshop and maintenance buildings.

The second phase will involve the development of a circa 75MW capacity battery storage facility, which, at this stage, is described as containing 22 battery storage units, each 19m x 5m x 3m, alongside adjoining inverters, each 10m x 5m x 3.8m.

The Sync Con will comprise a 400MVA condenser and various electrical plant and support items.

Both developments, for which a planning duration of ten years is being sought, will be served by grid connections which will comprise underground electrical cables connecting the proposed units to the transmission network via existing substations on site.

When first mooted in late 2021, the ESB told the Offaly Independent that the plan involved the development of new infrastructure including battery storage systems.

“These services are essential to support Ireland’s transition to clean and decarbonised energy,” it said.

These systems in general absorb and inject energy as dictated by the national power grid and act as energy reservoirs.

The West Offaly Power station closed in Shannonbridge in late 2020, bringing the curtain down on 55 years of electricity generation.

The village has been synonymous with peat-fired electricity generation since a 40MW station first went into production in late January 1965.

Construction work had commenced on the plant in 1961, at a cost of £2.5m.

Construction work started in December 2002 on a new €240m 150MW West Offaly Power plant beside the existing facility. It was commissioned in February 2005 and the older plant was closed down.

The new plant closed at the end of 2020 after An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission to the ESB to continue burning peat beyond 2020 with plans to transition to the exclusive use of biomass by 2027

The ESB initially submitted a request for consultation to An Bord Pleanála as part of a possible bid for planning permission for the development of the BESS and Sync Con as a Strategic Infrastructure Development.

However, in January last, the planning board ruled that the project did not meet the criteria.

It now means the ESB is now set to seek permission from Offaly County Council for both the demolition work and the development of the new electrical infrastructure.