Green energy park in Offaly open for business soon
Serviced sites in Rhode will be offered to companies
THE Rhode Green Energy Park in Offaly should be open for business soon, it has been learned.
Councillors were told companies will be invited to locate in the park once it is vacated by contractors for the Yellow River Wind Farm.
Joe Harte, engineer with Offaly County Council, said Just Transition Funding had been provided to upgrade the park so serviced sites could be advertised to industry.
That will happen when the contractors for the wind farm currently on-site leave.
“They hope to be out of there as well in the next couple of months and Rhode Green Energy Park should be good to advertise then and hopefully will attract some welcome industry into the area,” said Mr Harte.
The Rhode Green Energy Park project is a response to the closure of the ESB's peat-fired electricity generation station and the consequent loss of jobs both in the electricity company and the Bord na Mona bogs.
In conjunction with the North Offaly Development Fund, Offaly County Council is hoping the park will be a centre for various energy related infrastructure and other development.
According to the council, there will be 13 serviced sites and the park is being marketed on the basis of its proximity to national grid infrastructure and the Dublin-Galway motorway.
A data centre and a hydrogen energy feasibility study project are among the proposals for the park.