Buncrana's big battery is only the start as Ireland's energy goes green

The proposed battery storage plant at Ballynahone outside Buncrana, planning permission for which is currently being deliberated upon by An Bord Pleanála, is one of 350 large energy infrastructure projects Ireland will need to build if it is to meet its legally binding commitment of achieving a climate-neutral electricity system by 2050.

That's the conclusion drawn by the Irish Academy of Engineering which recently published a report on the implications of transitioning to a fossil-fuel free energy future – and to avoid fines running into tens of billions of euro.

The Academy estimates 350 large energy infrastructure projects will be needed, including hundreds of kilometres of overhead transmission lines as well as large onshore wind and solar projects and accompanying storage capacity like that proposed for Ballynahone, and it acknowledges the difficulties that will arise from local opposition and environmental impact assessments in obtaining planning consents.

The Government has set a target of achieving a climate neutral electricity system by 2050, and accepted the imposition of enormous fines - estimated at between €6 billion and €20 billion - by the EU if that target isn't achieved.
And all this has been done without estimating what will the cost will be to the State, never mind the impact it will have on the high prices Irish consumers already pay for electricity.

Wishful thinking needs to be replaced by the realities of engineering, finance and project delivery, the Academy warns in its report, entitled The Energy Transition: What is the 2050 Action Plan and Timeline.

Eamon O'Reilly (pictured above), the chair of the Academy's Energy and Climate Action committee and one of the authors of the report, says battery storage has a long way to go in Ireland but applauded ESB and Coillte for attempting to develop an iron-air storage facility in Europe for the first time.

While the technology underpinning it is more than 50 years old, large scale iron-air battery storage plants are new, with the first such facility under construction in the United States.
The plant at Ballynahone, a joint development by ESB Networks and the forestry agency Coillte, would comprise of 248 metal storage containers housing batteries, and store up to 1,000MW of power for release to the national grid as needed (when the wind doesn't blow on turbines and the sun doesn't shine on solar panels).

The Academy says Ireland has just 1,200MW of storage, and Mr O'Reilly says most storage connected to Ireland's electrical grid, which operates on an all-island basis, is based on lithium-ion battery and can typically provide only two hours of output.
However, longer duration (100 hour) iron-air batteries will enhance grid resilience – something that's vital as Ireland's electricity demand is projected to more than double over the next 25 years.

“At the same time as Ireland is trying to increase energy from renewables, electricity demand is growing at a very fast rate,” Mr O'Reilly said. “It's early days, but taking on a project with iron-air battery technology is to be applauded as we can learn the lessons from it.
“The great thing about this battery project, and hopefully others, is that it can help to offset grid constraints.

“On windy days, whatever the grid can't capture the batteries can.
“If the people in Donegal want to see renewable energy, these 100 hour batteries will provide a tremendous opportunity to offset the transmission constraints that the county has.

“Donegal has road transport and rail constraints, and electricity constraints too. Here's a means to offset one of the constraints the county faces in terms of accessing more renewable energy.”

The Academy's report acknowledges that large scale energy projects inevitably face considerable local opposition, and says the Government must work to bring the people along with them. A public meeting opposing the Ballynahone project was held in Buncrana last year.

“There's a real challenge for Government to bring the people along with them behind this policy [of achieving net zero by 2050],” Mr O'Reilly said, adding that “we are only fooling ourselves” if upgrades to the electricity grid are prevented because of planning appeals or judicial reviews.

“As a country, we either take energy technology seriously or we don't,” he said. “If we take it seriously, policy has to recognise the technological reality and also must realise that the people must be brought along in the process.”

While Donegal County Council granted permission to FuturEnergy to develop the battery storage plant at Ballynahone late last year, that has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.


The planning authority told Donegallive that the project is currently being reviewed by an inspector and the board await the submission of the inspector's report.

A request for an oral hearing into the project has been received and is under consideration.

Having missed the initial 18 week target, An Bord Pleanála has now set a deadline of 20 August by which it will make a decision on whether to grant planning permission or not.