Permission sought for major battery storage facility in Laois
A large facility to store electricity in giant batteries for the national grid is being planned in Portarlington in Laois.
French renewable energy company Neoen Renewables Ireland Ltd is seeking permission from Laois County Council for the industrial facility to be in Bracklone, 0.7km east of the town.
The 3.4 hectare site is off the Lea Road, next to Portarlington's wastewater treatment plant.
It is proposing to install 136 lithium-ion battery storage units, each measuring 6 metres x 2.44 metres.
Each one would be stored in its own metal shipping container, sitting on crushed rock, 4 metres apart. A new site entrance is also sought.
"The battery storage facility will store energy from the national grid and feed it back to meet demand while also providing network security services such as frequency response, primary reserve and voltage regulation.
"The overall power of the site is 149.6MW / 448.8 MWh with a capacity of 3MWh per battery enclosure.
The planning application includes a Natura Impact Statement, because the site is close to the River Barrow.
The site would be "unmanned" except for maintenance work. They say the batteries will be monitored continuously remotely, and the electricity switched off if any faults or issues occur. The steel containers will be kept cool by a cooling system.
The application gives details of what would happen if there was a fire.
"In the unlikely event of a problem occurring and the BMS failing to prevent it, the battery storage units will have additional design measures such as alarms, fire detection and a fire suppression system."
The developer is requesting planning permission to last for 10 years, and a 35 year operational period for the facility. After this the lithium would be recycled and the units removed by crane.
The proposed facility would be connected to the 110kV substation that would then be connected to the national grid. Those connections have to be sought under a separate planning application.
The plan is on view on Laois County Council's website. A decision is due before September 3 2023.