Further information sought on Offaly firm's data centre plan
Westmeath County Council planners have held off on making a decision on an Offaly company's plan for a data centre and solar farm between Rochfortbridge and Tyrrellspass, pending further information by the applicant.
On July 8 last Red Admiral DC Ltd, owned by Offaly businessman Nigel Reams and part of his Lumcloon Energy Group, lodged plans with the local authority for the six unit data centre and a decentralised energy resource.
The project is being developed in partnership with SK Ecoplant, a Korean engineering company that announced its collaboration with Lumcloon to supply power to the data centre in 2023 from solid-oxide fuel cells, which generate electricity from natural gas.
The scheme also includes a solar farm on 166 hectares (410 acres) of the overall site and which will lie east to the data centre campus.
The application to Westmeath County Council follows An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) ruling in May that the proposed the development is not a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID).
The planned data centre campus is within a 96-acre site in the townlands of Kiltotan, Collinstown, Oldtown and Farthingstown.
At the start of this month, the local authority planning office sought further information on the project from the applicant to address some objections raised before reaching a decision.
The townlands named in the application are: Gneevebane, Oldtown, Farthingstown, Castlelost, Kiltotan, Collinstown, and Rochfortbridge.
The planners are seeking clarification under 16 separate headings.
These are: Compliance with EIA directive requirement (projects splitting), engineering, archaeology, environment, carbon footprint and climate impact assessment, energy use and carbon emissions, appropriate assessment screening report, construction environmental management plan, biodiversity, glint and glare, noise, receiving environment, planning and design, community benefit, fire safety, and the final heading is additional matters.
The request states that if the information requested under this notice is not received by the planning authority within six months, with a possible three month extension, then the planning application will be deemed to be withdrawn.