Belfast Gas Power Plant Goes to Planning

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A proposed gas-fired power plant that could power half of Northern Ireland will be submitted for planning permission next week.

Evermore Energy (Belfast) has put forward its Belfast Harbour gas power plant to Belfast City Council. The plant would have a generating capacity of 480 megawatts (MW) and be capable of powering roughly 500,000 homes. The project will cost £280 million ($361 million) and would occupy a 13-acre site in Belfast Harbour and be fed by gas from Northern Ireland's main natural gas network nearby.

Northern Ireland is facing a power capacity crisis in the next five years as older plants close. Today, the region relies on three power plants to supply the majority of its power. These are the Coolkeeragh gas-fired power station in the northwest, Ballylumford power station in Islandmagee and Kilroot power station. Evermore pointed out that Ballylumford and Kilroot are facing being decommissioned due to environmental restrictions in the coming years.

Earlier this year, Ciaran Devine, co-founder of Evermore, said: "We're reaching a time when there is genuine uncertainty regarding whether or not we will have enough electricity to meet demand in the next five years. The Belfast Power Station--which will have an output of around 480 MW--will help to address this issue. It's also a key focus for Belfast Power that we generate electricity in a way that is sustainable for future generations. SONI (System Operator for Northern Ireland) has done fantastic work in recent years to facilitate the high level of wind energy on the system. We have worked to ensure that our proposed gas-fired project will help to build on this success, leading to a reduction of 1 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions a year, which will significantly enhance Northern Ireland's low-carbon credentials."

The plant would take around two and half years to construct if permission is granted by the Department for Infrastructure. It will include an underground gas pipeline connection and above-ground gas installation.

This year, a U.K. government committee highlighted that Northern Ireland will need more energy than can be supplied in 2021and called on the fast-tracking of the cross-border North South Interconnector project with the Republic of Ireland. At the time, Northern Ireland politician and committee member Danny Kinahan told the Belfast Telegraph: "If action is not taken soon we could find ourselves drifting towards an energy crisis. The interconnector from the Republic of Ireland is stalled. The Moyle interconnector [to Scotland] is only working one way. We're about to pull out of the EU, we've got old power stations that are coming to the end of their useful life, and we have an electricity grid that doesn't reach everywhere, so that not all the windfarms we are building can get onto it. Added to that, we have a slow planning process. Put all that together, and we are lacking a long-term strategy. None of the emergency measures really tackle the long-term problems thoroughly and properly."

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