Controversial Shannon gas import terminal and power station plans are revived

The project is expected to be met with significant opposition from environmental groups and the Government itself. Last month, Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan TD secured approval for a Policy Statement that bans the importation of fracked gas into Ireland and opposes the development of LNG terminals pending the outcome of the review of the security of energy supply of Ireland’s electricity and natural gas systems.

Plans to import fracked gas from the US to Cork fell through earlier this year after the Port of Cork severed links with a US company.

Planning permission was already granted for a ten-year period in 2008 for the Shannon LNG project. An Bord Pleanála granted an extension to the permission in 2018 but that decision was quashed by the High Court following an appeal by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) group.

New Fortress Energy said this new application for a 600MW gas-powered plant would include a 120 MW battery storage facility for renewable generation backup. The new terminal will import natural gas in liquid form using a Floating Storage & Regasification Unit (FSRU) that will be moored at a jetty to receive and store the LNG which will be regasified and sent to the power plant and to the national gas grid.

In pre-application discussions with An Bord Pleanála, New Fortress Energy said the development would not be dependent on fracked gas and said it was confident that it could source gas from non-fracked sources.

However, a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment told the Irish Examiner that it would not be appropriate for the development of any LNG terminals in Ireland to be permitted or proceeded with until the completion of the energy security review.

"The Policy Statement was notified to An Bord Pleanala immediately following its approval by Government last month."

"Section 34 of the Planning & Development Act requires An Bord Pleanala (or any planning authority) to consider the proper planning and sustainable development of an area with regard being had to relevant Government policies such as the Policy Statement on the Importation of Fracked Gas," the spokesperson said.

Sam Abdalla, Vice President of Project Development for New Fortress Energy said the first phase of development will create 270 construction jobs over a three-year construction period with 70 long-term jobs, once operational. "The development would occupy 100 acres of the 600-acre site and the site masterplan anticipates a follow-on development for a major Data Centre Campus with up to eight data halls which would create up to 400 additional long-term jobs," he said.

Data centres are also controversial in Ireland given the large amounts of energy they require to operate. It is understood that the proposed new data centre campus would consume up to 300MW of power from the new generation plant if approved with the remaining power being fed into the national grid.

Opposition party People Before Profit introduced a new bill this month, recommending the banning of both new LNG terminals and data centres arguing real climate action cannot happen if over half of any increase in renewable energy is swallowed up by data centres by 2030.

Despite the expected opposition to the project, New Fortress Energy will make the case that renewable generation such as wind needs to be backed up by gas-powered stations and that Ireland is facing a looming energy shortfall with the end of coal and peat-fired stations.