Tynagh North OCGT

Tynagh North Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT)

EP Energy Developments Ltd (EPED) is an Irish company primarily focusing on power generation from conventional and renewable sources. Our aim is to support Ireland’s lower carbon transition through provision of flexible and reliable energy supply.

Project Background

With rising demand for electricity in Ireland and requests for additional gas fired generation capacity from the system operator, EPED is proposing to construct new generating capacity through a new Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) unit at a site north of Tynagh Power Station, Derryfrench, Co. Galway. This project is known as the ‘Tynagh North OCGT’. A planning application for the project will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála in August 2023.

For Ireland to continue its energy transition towards greater reliance on renewable energy and zero carbon emissions, there is a strategic need to have lower carbon gas generation on standby when renewable energy is not available on the system. OCGT generators are therefore only used when the system operator needs them, to maintain electricity supply to customers. This dispatchable generation therefore complements renewable sources such as wind and solar.

Planning Information

The proposed development will include: Demolition of existing vacant shed structure on site; Installation of an Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) unit and associated plant [Including GT enclosure; air intake; stack (40m high) with Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS); circuit breaker; main, auxiliary and ancillary transformers; switchyard; acoustic barriers; electrical rooms; finfan coolers; skids (to include gas skid, distillate fuel skid, lube oil skid, CO2 fire-fighting skid); propane store; pump out kiosk; gantry; hardstanding maintenance area]; Lubrication oil and chemical stores [3 no. shed structures]; Secondary fuel storage area [1 no. bunded fuel oil storage tank; fuel treatment plant; fuel forwarding building; fuel unloading area]; Fuel pipe gantry; Demineralised water storage tank and pumphouse; Firewater storage tank and pumphouse; Emergency diesel generator; Above Ground Installation (‘AGI’) to facilitate connection to existing gas pipeline; A new 220 kV switchyard bay within the existing electricity substation; And all associated ancillary development, site works and services including underground pipework and cabling, upgraded wastewater treatment plant, drainage infrastructure, fencing, internal roadways, lighting, etc.

The application relates to development for the purposes of an activity requiring a license from the Environmental Protection Agency under the Industrial Emissions Directive. It also relates to a Lower Tier COMAH establishment and therefore falls under the requirements of the Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) Regulations, 2015. An Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) will be submitted with the application.

The planning application and EIAR may be inspected free of charge or purchased on payment of a specified fee (which shall not exceed the reasonable cost of making a copy) during public opening hours for a period of seven weeks commencing on 22^nd August 2023 at the following locations:

The offices of An Bord Pleanála, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, D01 V902;
The offices of Galway County Council, County Hall, Prospect Hill, Galway, H91 H6KX;

The planning application and EIAR may also be viewed or downloaded on the following website: www.tynaghnorthocgt.ie.

Submissions or observations may be made only to An Bord Pleanála (“the Board”), 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, D01 V902; or via the Board’s website, www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/observations, during the aforementioned period of seven weeks relating to:

The implications of the proposed development for proper planning and sustainable development; and
The likely effects on the environment of the proposed development; and
The likely significant effects of the proposed development on a European site, if carried out.

Any submissions or observations must be accompanied by a fee of €50 (except for certain prescribed bodies) and must be received by the Board not later than 5.30 p.m. on 10^th October 2023. Such submissions or observations must also include the following information:

The name of the person making the submission or observation, the name of the person acting on his or her behalf, if any, and the address to which any correspondence relating to the application should be sent; and
The subject matter of the submission or observation; and
The reasons, considerations and arguments on which the submission or observation is based in full (Article 217 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, refers).

Any submissions or observations which do not comply with the above requirements cannot be considered by the Board.

The Board may, at its absolute discretion, hold an oral hearing on the application (refer to ‘A Guide to Public Participation in Strategic Infrastructure Development’ at www.pleanala.ie).

The Board may, in respect of an application for permission/approval, decide to:

a)(i) grant the permission/approval; or

(ii) make such modifications to the proposed development as it specifies in its decision and grant permission/approval in respect of the proposed development as so modified; or

(iii) grant permission/approval in respect of part of the proposed development (with or without specified modifications of the foregoing kind), and any of the above decisions may be subject to or without conditions; or

b) Refuse permission to grant the permission/approval.

Any enquiries relating to the application process should be directed to the Strategic Infrastructure Development Section of An Bord Pleanála (Tel. 01-8588100).

A person may question the validity of any such decision of the Board by way of an application for judicial review, under Order 84 of the Rule of the Superior Courts (S.I. No. 15 of 1986, as amended by S.I. No. 691 of 2011), in accordance with Section 50 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Practical information on the review mechanism can be accessed on the Board’s website (www.pleanala.ie) under the following heading: Legal Notices – Judicial Review Notice. This information is also available on the Citizens Information Service website (www.citizensinformation.ie).