Work on gas-fired power station to start this year
With energy issues looming large in Ireland and elsewhere, Bord Gáis confirmed that work to build a new gas-fired power station in Monksland is due to start before the end of this year.
In August, revised planning permission was awarded by Roscommon County Council to Greener Ideas Limited, a joint venture between Bord Gáis Energy and Mountside Partners Ltd, for the new plant.
The facility, planned for a site in the Monksland Industrial Estate, is expected to have capacity to generate up to 102 Megawatts of electricity.
In response to a query, a spokesperson for the project said work on site was likely to get underway in the not-too-distant future.
"Planning is ongoing for the development of the flexible gas-fired power station in Athlone by Greener Ideas Ltd," said a Bord Gáis Energy spokesperson.
"Construction is expected to start before Christmas and will take approximately two years, with the power plant to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2024."
The project is planned for a 1.6 hectare site approximately 3km south west of Athlone town centre.
The location is to the south of both Oliver Carty and Arran Chemicals facilities and is bounded to the south by the M6 (Galway to Athlone) road.
It is one of nine new gas-fired power plants due to be built in Ireland by 2024, in a bid to head off a potential shortage of power on the island.
The plant was successful in the recent auction to procure new electricity generation capacity for delivery to the grid in 2024.
The update from the developer comes after Roscommon County Council agreed to lease two sites in Monksland for three years in order for them to be used as a construction compound during the building of the plant.
At last week's monthly meeting of Roscommon County Council, approval was sought from councillors for the leasing by the local authority of two sections of its land to Greener Ideas Ltd. The land was being leased for a three year period at a rate of €23,200 per annum, local representatives were told.
Council official Caitlin Conneely said the lease would cover "two small areas of land," of 0.9363 hectares and 0.4378 hectares, which were "located adjacent to the Monksland Sewage Treatment plant."
She said the three-year lease was "to facilitate use of the lands as a site compound and a laydown area for the construction project."
In response to a question from Cllr John Naughten, Ms Conneely said that Greener Ideas had "recently been granted planning permission to develop a gas-fired power station on the site adjacent to it, and this (lease) is to facilitate the works during the construction period."
The members of the council unanimously approved the awarding of the three-year lease.
The gas-fired plant in Monksland has been the subject of planning applications dating back to 2008, with the most recent application involving alterations to a previous grant of planning permission in 2018.