New €2 billion renewable energy facility planned for Carlow

Sarah Slater

A new €2 billion renewable energy facility is being planned for Co Carlow.

The long-duration energy storage facility is proposed to be located outside the town of Tullow by Irish company Net Zero Energy (NZE).

The facility, planned for Rathrush Green Energy Park, will use excess renewable energy produced from wind and solar farms.

The excess energy is currently being lost due to inadequate grid capacity and lack of demand at certain times, to generate green hydrogen, according to the company.

This hydrogen will then be stored below the site in lined rock caverns, ready to be released as clean electricity when needed.

NZE said the facility will save an estimated 180,000 tonnes of Co2 emissions annually, which equates to taking roughly 40,000 cars off the road.

The multi-billion development will employ up to 1,500 workers on site during the construction phase, with some 70 long-term, highly skilled jobs once it is complete.

The company plans to undertake a community consultation programme in the coming months, before formally submitting a planning application by the end of the year.

NZE chief executive, Peter Harte, said the project presents an “important and timely solution” to the current energy dilemma facing Ireland.

“By harnessing an energy source which was heretofore being wasted, we can insulate consumers from future fossil fuel crises and price shocks such as we saw in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and more recently, in the Middle East,” Harte said.

The project could satisfy as much as 10 per cent of Ireland’s peak energy requirement as a result of the 600MW of renewable energy that will be made available.

The facility will have seven times the generation capacity of Ardnacrusha on the Clare-Limerick border and store 30 times more green energy than Turlough Hill in the Wicklow Mountains.