Carlow village residents and energy company’s differing views over information day

A seven-hour community information session was held in Rathoe’s Community Hall to detail a proposed energy storage facility near the village.

The information day was held 48 hours after a public meeting was held at the same venue, where local residents underlined their fears about the proposal: County Carlow village residents hold meeting on the proposed long duration energy storage facility

Gillian Dee, who is a member of the Rathoe Community Group, said the community was not opposed to renewable energy but was fearful of the “unproven technology” that they claim is at the heart of the plan.

In a statement issued this morning, Rathoe Community Group Chairperson Dr David Allen described the information day as “a box ticking exercise”.

He added: “The feedback I’m getting from the community is one of deep frustration, and a significant lack of confidence in the information provided, with particular dissatisfaction with the technical information provided.”

“We need independent scrutiny. We need independent experts to examine the evidence, challenge the assumptions and tell the community whether the risks have genuinely been understood and adequately addressed…

“It isn’t reasonable to expect local residents to independently assess complex modelling, engineering assumptions and safety cases simply because a €2 billion project is being proposed beside their homes.”

“The responsibility for independently testing this proposal should sit with the planning and regulatory system. Our community should not have to fund its own technical investigation simply to establish whether the information being presented to us stands up to scrutiny.”

Net Zero Energy Chief Executive Peter Harte first spoke to KCLR News in early June about the proposal which, if green-lit, would save an estimated 180,000 of Carbon Dioxide per annum, the equivalent of approximately 40,000 cars off the road: Net Zero Energy will “answer all questions” on proposed Carlow energy park

The project would use surplus renewable renewable energy generated off-site, which a company statement said is “currently being lost as a result of a lack of demand at certain times and inadequate grid capacity capacity to absorb power…

“This surplus wind and solar energy will be used to generate green hydrogen which will then be stored deep underground on-site in limed rock caverns and later converted back to electricity. This can then be delivered into the national grid providing crucial back-up when the need arises and delivering a timely solution to the issues of renewable energy intermittency when compared with fossil fuel generation.”

Mr Harte said the company was pleased with yesterday’s information session and was committed to providing further, detailed information to the local community over the coming weeks and months.

This morning’s KCLR Daily with Brian Redmond discussed yesterday’s Information Day in Rathoe.

Funded by the News Reporting Scheme, thanks to Coimisiún na Meán.

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