Go-ahead for huge Offaly peat-fired generating station

Planning permission for Ireland's largest peat-fired power station - a 120-megawatt facility called Europeat-1, near Edenderry, Co Offaly - has been granted by An Bord Pleanala.

The scheme, originally approved last July by Offaly County Council, had been appealed by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, which campaigns for the preservation of ecologically-important bogs.

Planned by Edenderry Power Ltd, the power station would be housed in a building of 19,500 sq m at Ballykilleen, near Edenderry.

Turf would be conveyed to the plant by extending the Bord na Mona narrow-auge railway network and fed into a fluidised bed combustion chamber, which would fuel a steam turbine and 120-megawatt power generator. The scheme also includes a 110kv transmission station, cooling towers, offices, railway maintenance sheds and a water treatment plant. Its chimney, rising to a height of 70 m, would be the tallest structure in the midlands.

The Europeat-1 project had been held up for a number of years because the EU Commission had serious doubts about its environmental implications - particularly the fact that it would emit 634,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

The Commission eventually agreed it should go ahead after reaching an understanding with the Department of Public Enterprise that it would replace older, less efficient peat-fired power stations - such as Portarlington and Ferbane.

In deciding to grant planning permission, An Bord Pleanala said it had taken into account Offaly County Council's declared policy favouring the development of peat resources in the county and, specifically, its objective to secure this new plant.

The board also noted that the site was in close proximity to its source of fuel, Bord na Mona's railway network and the national electricity grid. It was also separated from housing and was not located in an area of scenic or ecological importance.

It laid down a total of 14 conditions, including a requirement that the developers would lodge a cash deposit or insurance bond with the county council as security for the eventual decommissioning of the plant when it reaches the end of its life.

The planning permission - effective to December 31st, 2015 - also specifies that any archaeological material on the site must be protected and that all peat supplies must be screened at the plant to recover any archaeological objects. However, the appeals board made it clear that the treatment of the boglands from which peat is to be extracted and the future rehabilitation and use of these cutaway areas "do not come within the scope of this planning application".

The developers are required by the terms of the board's permission to landscape the Ballykilleen site, to provide details of existing trees and hedgerows which are being retained and to ensure their protection during the construction phase.

The top half of the 70 m chimney stack is to be painted and fitted with obstacle lights in the interest of aircraft safety. In addition, the hours of operation of the plant are to be "kept to a minimum" at night and at weekends to reduce noise nuisance.

All lorries serving the plant will have their wheels washed before leaving the site "to prevent the deposit of soil or other dirt on the public roads". The developers are also required to provide details on the disposal of hazardous or toxic materials.

Under the division of responsibility between An Bord Pleanala and the Environmental Protection Agency, the board is precluded from considering pollution control issues or the contribution which this plant will make to Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions.