A MASSIVE €500m gas storage plant as big as five Croke Park pitches was approved yesterday.
Fears raised by residents about a high risk of explosions were dismissed by An Bord Pleanala which ordered the developers to pay the local community €200,000 a year.
The plant will be capable of supplying 60pc of our gas needs for the foreseeable future Five giant storage tanks, each as high as Liberty Hall and covering an area the size of a full-size football pitch will contain millions of tones of liquid natural gas (LNG).
The tanks, 50 metres high and 96 metres in diameter with 200,000 cubic metres capacity, will be built at the Shannon Estuary facility between Ballylongford and Tarbert in Co Kerry.
The plant's developers say the massive storage tanks will also contain strategic gas reserves which can be used in the event of a worldwide energy crisis.
The gas will be bought on the world market, liquefied, and then shipped to the Shannon plant in massive oil tankers where it will be piped into the five storage tanks.
The developers, Shannon LNG, an Irish subsidiary of US corporation Hess LNG Limited, plan to pipe the gas into the national grid at the rate of 28.3 million cubic metres a day.
But even though the project was approved yesterday by An Bord Pleanala with 40 separate conditions, the developers must now get planning permission to build a gas pipeline running 25km from the plant to the national grid.
They must also secure a pollution licence from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The company said afterwards that the plan allows Ireland to access multiple sources of gas from around the world delivering greater security and diversity of energy supply.
They would progress the development in ongoing consultation with the local community in order to minimise inconvenience and disturbance.
"Once operational, the terminal will be a very quiet and clean facility," it said.
Construction is due to begin in 2009 and the terminal operational by 2012 at the earliest.
Johnny McElligott of the Kilcolgan Residents Association told the Irish Independent yesterday that the concerns they raised at the inquiry about the risk of an accident or explosion at the plant and the effect on those living within a three-mile radius had not been dealt with by An Bord Pleanala.
The project was the second to be approved by An Bord Pleanala under the new fast-track planning process whereby projects of national importance go straight to the board, bypassing the local authority system.
It was decided within the 18-week timeframe following an eight-day oral hearing.
Among a raft of conditions is the stipulation that no gas can leave the site by tanker and must be sent via the national grid. The developers have also agreed to pay the €200,000 to the local community every year.
An Bord Pleanala, in its ruling, said it took account of the provisions of the National Development Plan in relation to security of energy supply, and Government policy to secure reliable electricity and gas supplies.
Disruptions
This policy also tries to diversify fuels used for power generation and to be prepared for "energy supply disruptions".
The Kerry County Development Plan 2003-2009, also identified the lands at Ballylongford/Tarbert as suitable for development as a premium deepwater port and for major industrial development and employment creation.
There will be up to 350 jobs during the construction phase and 50 permanent posts when the plant is up and running.
Bord Pleanala also took into account the accessibility of the site to sheltered deep water capable of being reached by the largest contemplated liquefied natural gas tanker ships.
Another factor was the proximity of the site to the national gas transmission grid at a point where there is sufficient capacity to accept the gas output of the terminal.
Treacy Hogan
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
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