An Bord Pleanála has approved an application for a 350 megawatt gas fired power plant in Co Offaly.
Lumcloon Energy, the private consortium behind the project, expects to create 500 jobs during construction and up to 50 permanent jobs when the plant is completed.
The €350 million gas fired power plant, planned at the site of an old peat power plant at Lumcloon near Ferbane, will be backed up by wind energy.
Spokesman for Lumcloon Energy, Mr John Gallagher expressed his delight at the decision. He said it wouldn’t have been easy without local support.
“There was no specific objection to Lumcloon which I think is virtually unique to a project like this,” he explained. With construction expected to begin around the end of 2010 the Taoiseach has already been asked to turn the sod, he revealed.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label offaly planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label offaly planning. Show all posts
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Application to build gas-fired power station at Ferbane
AN APPLICATION has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála for a €300 million 325 megawatt gas-fired power station in Ferbane, Co Offaly.
The application by Offaly-based Lumcloon Energy, which plans to feed into the national grid at peak times as a back-up to wind energy, could create 50 jobs.
The proposed plant would operate on the site of the former ESB peat-burning Ferbane power station, which was demolished in 2002.
Lumcloon Energy applied to the Commission on Energy Regulation in 2008. It is hoping to be granted a licence this year.
Lumcloon Energy spokesman John Gallagher said the plant would create 500 jobs during construction and a further 50 permanent positions on completion.
“The hope is that the planning process will be dealt with by the end of this year or early in next year. Construction should take about two years; by 2012 we should be ready.”
The plant will consist of two generating units – a flexible unit consisting of two gas turbines and one steam turbine and a smaller simple-cycle unit. The simple-cycle unit is a reserve/peaking unit to support wind energy power plants in the event of a rapid fall-off in wind generation.
Lumcloon Energy says the plant will also be the first to use a new, more efficient design for condensing steam produced at the plant back into water.
The proposed plant has been specifically designed to support the Government’s plans to develop renewable energy.
As the Government plans to generate 40 per cent of Ireland’s energy from wind by 2020, the plant has been designed for quick back-up in case of energy shortages due to calm weather, said Mr Gallagher.
The proposal has been met with approval locally. “We have held a number of consultations and briefing meetings over a year, and there has been strong support locally,” said Mr Gallagher.
Local councillor Eamon Dooley (FF) welcomed the proposed site.
“The site they have there was already an industrial site and it is going to be a lot cleaner then what we had there before.”
He said although the introduction of a gas pipeline from Athlone was of concern to a small number of landowners, the general consensus was positive.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The application by Offaly-based Lumcloon Energy, which plans to feed into the national grid at peak times as a back-up to wind energy, could create 50 jobs.
The proposed plant would operate on the site of the former ESB peat-burning Ferbane power station, which was demolished in 2002.
Lumcloon Energy applied to the Commission on Energy Regulation in 2008. It is hoping to be granted a licence this year.
Lumcloon Energy spokesman John Gallagher said the plant would create 500 jobs during construction and a further 50 permanent positions on completion.
“The hope is that the planning process will be dealt with by the end of this year or early in next year. Construction should take about two years; by 2012 we should be ready.”
The plant will consist of two generating units – a flexible unit consisting of two gas turbines and one steam turbine and a smaller simple-cycle unit. The simple-cycle unit is a reserve/peaking unit to support wind energy power plants in the event of a rapid fall-off in wind generation.
Lumcloon Energy says the plant will also be the first to use a new, more efficient design for condensing steam produced at the plant back into water.
The proposed plant has been specifically designed to support the Government’s plans to develop renewable energy.
As the Government plans to generate 40 per cent of Ireland’s energy from wind by 2020, the plant has been designed for quick back-up in case of energy shortages due to calm weather, said Mr Gallagher.
The proposal has been met with approval locally. “We have held a number of consultations and briefing meetings over a year, and there has been strong support locally,” said Mr Gallagher.
Local councillor Eamon Dooley (FF) welcomed the proposed site.
“The site they have there was already an industrial site and it is going to be a lot cleaner then what we had there before.”
He said although the introduction of a gas pipeline from Athlone was of concern to a small number of landowners, the general consensus was positive.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 24 August 2009
Taoiseach's brother's power plan is fast tracked
AN BORD Pleanála is to fast-track a planning application for a €350m power station in Co Offaly, which is backed by the Taoiseach's younger brother, Barry Cowen, after ruling that the project was a strategic infrastructure development.
The move means that the project could receive planning approval within months. It comes as industry sources indicated that Japanese conglomerate Mitsui may be interested in acquiring a stake in the company behind the plans, Lumcloon Energy.
Lumcloon is backed by Irish engineering firms R&R Mechanical and Terotech International.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
The move means that the project could receive planning approval within months. It comes as industry sources indicated that Japanese conglomerate Mitsui may be interested in acquiring a stake in the company behind the plans, Lumcloon Energy.
Lumcloon is backed by Irish engineering firms R&R Mechanical and Terotech International.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Locals fear impact of Clonmacnoise heritage status
LANDOWNERS LIVING next to the ancient monastic site of Clonmacnoise in Co Offaly fear that if it is awarded world heritage site status their freedom to farm and build in the area will be severely restricted.
A public information meeting on the zoning of land in counties Roscommon, Offaly and Westmeath as part of the planned designation of Clonmacnoise takes place in Athlone this evening.
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government announced early this year it was applying to Unesco for world heritage status for Clonmacnoise.
An extensive “buffer zone” around Clonmacnoise has been proposed as part of the department submission. This incorporates tracts of land in counties Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath.
Offaly councillor Connie Hanniffy (FG) said residents living in the locality were very worried. The local community “have been the custodians of the place and they have co-operated and this has been foisted on them”.
She said: “The economic value of Clonmacnoise to the local community as of now hasn’t been that great because very few businesses around the bog have gained anything from it. I speak of this because I was in tourism myself.”
Ms Hanniffy wants the department to clarify the nature of any planned restrictions. “I am very worried for my constituents – they have to live when all this is over.”
Cllr Eamon Dooley (FF) agreed there was a lot of concern locally but he believed most of the concerns would be appropriately dealt with during consultation. If the cost was too high, the local community would not accept the proposals, he said. Shannonbridge native Cllr Sinead Moylan Ryan (FF) questioned the scale of the proposed buffer zone, claiming it would increase the original core protective zone ten-fold, from 200 hectares to more than 2,000 hectares.
In Co Westmeath, Irish Farmers’ Association chairman Paddy Donnelly said his members were meeting to discuss the issue.
He had received calls from farmers who fear there will be “widespread implications” if the draft measures are imposed. The farming community along the banks of the Shannon in Westmeath were worried there could be restrictions in cutting hay and allowing animals out after they have been dosed.
Roscommon-based TD Denis Naughten (FG) has urged local farmers to attend today’s public meeting, which is being hosted by the department at the Athlone Springs Hotel, and starts at 7.30pm. “Over the last number of years we have witnessed the department designate large tracts of land, placing serious restrictions on farming practices and development,” said Mr Naughten.
“The fear is that we may now see this blasé attitude from the Department of the Environment well and truly at work again with similar plans for the proposed designation of land within the buffer zone of the pending world heritage site at Clonmacnoise.”
To date there are two world heritage sites in the Republic: the Brú na Bóinne archaeological complex which was added to the Unesco list in 1993, and Skellig Michael which was added in 1996.
Apart from Clonmacnoise, the department has seven other sites on a “tentative” application list: Cashel, Céide Fields, Clara Bog, Killarney National Park, North West Mayo Boglands, the Burren and the Western Stone Forts.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
A public information meeting on the zoning of land in counties Roscommon, Offaly and Westmeath as part of the planned designation of Clonmacnoise takes place in Athlone this evening.
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government announced early this year it was applying to Unesco for world heritage status for Clonmacnoise.
An extensive “buffer zone” around Clonmacnoise has been proposed as part of the department submission. This incorporates tracts of land in counties Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath.
Offaly councillor Connie Hanniffy (FG) said residents living in the locality were very worried. The local community “have been the custodians of the place and they have co-operated and this has been foisted on them”.
She said: “The economic value of Clonmacnoise to the local community as of now hasn’t been that great because very few businesses around the bog have gained anything from it. I speak of this because I was in tourism myself.”
Ms Hanniffy wants the department to clarify the nature of any planned restrictions. “I am very worried for my constituents – they have to live when all this is over.”
Cllr Eamon Dooley (FF) agreed there was a lot of concern locally but he believed most of the concerns would be appropriately dealt with during consultation. If the cost was too high, the local community would not accept the proposals, he said. Shannonbridge native Cllr Sinead Moylan Ryan (FF) questioned the scale of the proposed buffer zone, claiming it would increase the original core protective zone ten-fold, from 200 hectares to more than 2,000 hectares.
In Co Westmeath, Irish Farmers’ Association chairman Paddy Donnelly said his members were meeting to discuss the issue.
He had received calls from farmers who fear there will be “widespread implications” if the draft measures are imposed. The farming community along the banks of the Shannon in Westmeath were worried there could be restrictions in cutting hay and allowing animals out after they have been dosed.
Roscommon-based TD Denis Naughten (FG) has urged local farmers to attend today’s public meeting, which is being hosted by the department at the Athlone Springs Hotel, and starts at 7.30pm. “Over the last number of years we have witnessed the department designate large tracts of land, placing serious restrictions on farming practices and development,” said Mr Naughten.
“The fear is that we may now see this blasé attitude from the Department of the Environment well and truly at work again with similar plans for the proposed designation of land within the buffer zone of the pending world heritage site at Clonmacnoise.”
To date there are two world heritage sites in the Republic: the Brú na Bóinne archaeological complex which was added to the Unesco list in 1993, and Skellig Michael which was added in 1996.
Apart from Clonmacnoise, the department has seven other sites on a “tentative” application list: Cashel, Céide Fields, Clara Bog, Killarney National Park, North West Mayo Boglands, the Burren and the Western Stone Forts.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Friday, 1 June 2007
Offaly waste plants are in the firing line
Two waste facilities - both the subject of ongoing planning rows - found themselves in the firing line at a meeting of Offaly County Council this week.
Cllr Molly Buckley questioned what action the Council were taking over Standish Sawmills at Leap Castle and Oxigen Environment at Acantha, Durrow.
Describing the facility in Durrow as an “illegal dump”, Cllr Buckley asked what the council had done in relation to both matters.
Director of Services Sean Murray said the Durrow facility was in fact a “material recycling facility outside of planning”. Declining to comment further, he said both plants were under scrutiny by the county enforcer.
Standish Sawmills, a large employer in the area, has been the subject of ongoing controversy for years.
Last year Senator David Norris claimed, “this development was established without planning permission, farm animals have died, the water table has been affected, wells have been polluted and it is a gross visual intrusion on the outskirts of a national monument, Leap Castle”.
Oxigen Environment Ltd has been granted a waste permit from Offaly County Council to operate.
However, planning permission for the site was declined last November due to concerns over the location and access to the facility.
The company applied for permission again in January of this year. The council requested further information in March and the planning has not yet been approved.
Both applications by the company for planning approval have been contested by residents.
Eoghan MacConnell
© Offally Independent
Cllr Molly Buckley questioned what action the Council were taking over Standish Sawmills at Leap Castle and Oxigen Environment at Acantha, Durrow.
Describing the facility in Durrow as an “illegal dump”, Cllr Buckley asked what the council had done in relation to both matters.
Director of Services Sean Murray said the Durrow facility was in fact a “material recycling facility outside of planning”. Declining to comment further, he said both plants were under scrutiny by the county enforcer.
Standish Sawmills, a large employer in the area, has been the subject of ongoing controversy for years.
Last year Senator David Norris claimed, “this development was established without planning permission, farm animals have died, the water table has been affected, wells have been polluted and it is a gross visual intrusion on the outskirts of a national monument, Leap Castle”.
Oxigen Environment Ltd has been granted a waste permit from Offaly County Council to operate.
However, planning permission for the site was declined last November due to concerns over the location and access to the facility.
The company applied for permission again in January of this year. The council requested further information in March and the planning has not yet been approved.
Both applications by the company for planning approval have been contested by residents.
Eoghan MacConnell
© Offally Independent
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