Lumcloon Energy has backed a €100 million project that will aid efforts to get more green electricity on the national grid by reducing the risk of power cuts.
The business, which focuses on grid technology, and generating and storing electricity, opened a new facility at Shannonbridge, Co Offaly, that is designed to support energy supplies as renewables use increases.
Shannonbridge B has the country’s first synchronous condenser, a safeguard against power cuts when wind and solar energy use is high, along with enough batteries to supply electricity to 20,000 homes for nine hours.
Industry figures say that Lumcloon and its partner, Korea’s Hanwha Energy, invested around €100 million in the plant, which is designed to make renewable electricity more dependable.
READ MORE
Synchronous condensers are flywheels used to stabilise electricity supplies when the grid uses large amounts of power generated by wind and/or solar.
Gas and coal power stations supply electricity at a set frequency. If one of their turbines cuts out, the others continue to generate and supply power without a break.
Wind- and solar-generated electricity lacks this stability, so the risk of power cuts, similar to the one that struck parts of Spain last year, increases as they replace conventional plants.
Synchronous condensers boost stability and cut the risk of such power cuts.
Lumcloon chief executive, Nigel Reams, dubbed Shannonbridge a “landmark” that combined local and international strengths.
He predicted that the plant would provide essential services to the electricity supply network as it increased the use of renewables.
Hanwha invested in Shannonbridge after it won planning approval, adding its expertise to the project.
Jaekyu Lee, the Korean group’s chief executive, noted that the combination of batteries and condenser would provide stability and flexibility.
“This project marks a significant milestone in our global portfolio and reinforces the strong economic and technological ties between Korea and Ireland,” he added.
An Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who formally opened the development on Friday, said Shannonbridge was “exactly” the kind of infrastructure that the Republic needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its electricity system.
He stressed that the investment was “all the more important” given that it was next to Shannonbridge’s old peat-fired power station.
