Anger growing in Galwayover bid to build major gas plant near Athenry
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ANGER is growing over a bid by Bord Gáis to build a major gas power plant near Athenry, with serious local objections and increasing opposition to the project.
The proposed Cashla Peaker Plant, located within the Collnagroagh and Rathmorrissy townlands, involves the construction of ten buildings and five above-ground tanks and would be one of the largest gas-fired peaker plants in the country.
“This is a rural farming area with a lot of houses and a lot of family properties,” explains local County Councillor and Athenry resident Peter Feeney (FG).
“The project is a gas-fired peaker plant – a power station which is used when both the wind and solar are at a minimum – and gas fire kicks in to make up the difference. It is proposed for a site a couple of miles from Athenry and it is one of the largest proposed in the country. It would feed back into the Cashla substation and the gas pipeline from the Corrib field runs through the site.”
At this month's meeting of Galway County Council, elected representatives were asked to consider a report to An Coimisiún Pleanála, as their views will be included in the local authority’s final submission.
“There are a number of community concerns,” Cllr Feeney told the Connacht Tribune.
It is close enough that the prevailing wind pushes emissions towards Athenry.
“It is close enough that the prevailing wind pushes emissions towards Athenry. The local area around Castlelambert has heavy residential development. People built and bought their houses not realising they were going to get a huge infrastructure power station on their doorstep. They are not happy about it and I don't blame them.”
In a joint statement, members of Athenry Municipal District outlined their objections at the meeting.
Councillors highlighted the potential environmental impacts of the plant. Prevailing winds, they said, would direct emissions towards a growing town of 5,000 people, 3,500 students in five schools.
They also pointed out that the project is made up of three separate applications – the plant, the substation and pipeline, and the gas pipeline – and have requested the planning authority to assess the cumulative impact of the entire project before making its decision.
The site lies within the Galway/Athenry economic corridor, which has seen major investment over the decades in transport, industrial development sites, and housing. Councillors warned that locating one of the largest power plants of its type in the centre of the corridor could reduce its attractiveness for new projects and investment. Some of the closest lands to the site are owned by the IDA.
Previous proposals for a gas-fired power plant at Cashla also faced significant opposition and were later withdrawn in 2009.
Councillors warned that the storage of 6.2 million litres of diesel, alongside a major gas main, creates a “considerable fire risk” that would “challenge greatly” the local fire services.
The site will be a Lower Tier COMAH site under the Seveso Directive, which requires a higher level of emergency planning and capacity.
Galway County Council CE Liam Conneally reiterated that the Council is ‘not the decision-making body in relation to this’, but rather that ‘an important stakeholder’. “Anything members have to add, we are happy to take and include as part of the submission,” he said.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.