A formal application has been lodged with An Bord Pleanala for a new €300m electricity generating station on the site of the old Ferbane power plant in Offaly. The proposal from the Tullamore based company would create up to 500 jobs over a two-year construction period with about 50 positions post build. Work is projected to commence in approximately six months. The developers behind the plans are Lumcloon Energy Ltd – a consortium of mechanical engineering firm R&R Mechanical Ltd and engineering and power development company Terotech Ltd. The company applied last year to the Commission on Energy Regulation to be included in the next round of licenses to provide power generation facilities. An announcement on the award of licenses is expected later this year. Lumcloon Energy spokesman John Gallagher said: “Work on the site is projected to begin early next year and power from the plant will be available to the national grid from the first half of 2012.” The new Lumcloon power plant is specifically designed to support the Government’s plans to develop and expand renewable energy. It will operate on the basis of smart grid load management, supplying energy to the national grid on a targeted basis as required. The 325mw plant is part of a new generation of flexible generation facilities required to operate at high efficiency when electricity demand is high. It will consist of two generating units - a combined cycle unit which can run continuously and a reserve/peaking unit, providing support during periods of a fall-off in wind generation. “It will be able to reach full power within minutes if wind generated power falls. Conventional power stations take many hours to reach full capacity and cannot respond effectively or efficiently to dramatic variations in wind levels, which can occur over a short space of time,” Mr Gallagher added. Commenting on the proposal, Nigel Reams from Lumcloon Energy said that the plan would provide state-of-the-art power generation facilities for the national grid and for consumers nationally. “The site ticks every box in terms of location, planning designation, proximity to the ESB and Bord Gais supply lines. Its proximity to the business and home consumer market in the Midlands and west-Dublin regions means it will be able to supply electricity efficiently to the national grid just where future demand and growth is expected to be greatest. “It will supply clean flexibile energy at a time when older and environmentally damaging power plants in the Midlands region are coming to the end of their natural lifespan,” he said. |
