Council planners give go ahead for major Rhode energy project

Offaly County Council has given the green light for a major energy project in north Offaly which will see the construction of two giant energy air domes, each 34 metres in height, on a rural site just 1.2km outside the village of Rhode.

The energy air domes, which will rise to a height of 34 metres, are part of a proposed development by Rhode LDES (Long Duration Energy Storage) Ltd, to provide a means of electricity storage, with energy being accumulated during periods of low demand from the national grid and discharged back to the grid during times of increased demand. Each of the domes is designed to hold 1.3 million cubic metres of carbon dioxide.

The company, which is headed by Nigel Reams of Lumcloon Energy, sought planning permission for the project from the Offaly local authority over a year ago on a 22-hectare site in the townslands of Coolcor and Clonin, on the outskirts of Rhode village.

Six conditions have been attached to the grant of planning permission, including that a Transport Management Plan be submitted to the council prior to the commencement of development. This should include details of how “exceptionally wide and heavy deliveries” will be made to the site.

The council has also stipulated that all proposed development be removed from the site and that it be returned to its original state “within 12 months of the ceasing of electrical storage and generation operations.”

Another condition of planning permission states that no parking for construction workers be permitted within Rhode Green Energy Park or along any access roads to the site.

Council planners have requested that, within three months of the public roads ceasing to be used as haul routes, a “condition survey” be carried out of all roads, bridges and any other public infrastructure, and that any repairs/upgrade works that are required be carried out at the developer's expense within a 12 month period.

Part of the 22-hectare development site was formerly used as a deposition area for peat ash generated by the nearby Rhode Power Station, which was decommissioned in 2003 and demolished a year later. The two energy air domes which are due to be constructed as part of the project will be located adjacent to Rhode Green Energy Park and will measure 550 metres in length, 120 metres in width and will be up to 34 metres in height.

The development will also include cooling, compression, pumping and power generation equipment and machinery, along with a single-storey storage and control building, internal site access roads and a connection to existing and consented roads at Rhode Green Energy Park. An underground cable connection to Derryiron 110kV sub-station also form part of the plans.

The facility will “operate unmanned post-construction” except for routine maintenance, according to planning documents submitted as part of the planning application.