The ESB has ended coal use at its Moneypoint electricity generation station in the Shannon estuary in Co Clare and is switching to oil use for the coming years.
Generating power with heavy fuel oil is less carbon intensive than coal, while the station is expected to be used less in the future. The exit from coal use is six months earlier than anticipated at the facility, which has been in operation since the mid-1980s.
The move is part of the continuing transformation of Moneypoint into a renewable energy hub.
The power plant has been burning coal for 40 years but began its transition away from fossil fuel generation on site in 2017 with the construction of a 17 megawatt onshore wind farm.
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In 2021, ESB announced its Green Atlantic @ Moneypoint project, an ambitious plan to transform the site into one of the country’s largest renewable energy hubs, using its deepwater port and existing infrastructure.
This is planned to coincide with scale-up of offshore wind projects off the west coast in coming years.
Phase one of this plan was completed in 2022 with the installation of a €50 million synchronous compensator to facilitate more efficient accommodation of renewables on the national grid.
Moneypoint, which at one stage supplied up to 25 per cent of Ireland’s electricity needs, will continue to provide security of supply for Ireland’s electricity system as a backup facility; a power plant of last resort for EirGrid. The ESB intends to end oil use in 2029.
