Green electricity plan for Silvermines powers on
THE multi-million euro project to develop a hydro-electric plant on the Silvermines Mountains has received a major boost after yet another backer has emerged to make what is being enthusiastically welcomed as “a huge investment”.
It has just emerged that the London based, Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners, has acquired an equity stake and committed significant capital to the development of the highly ambitious project.
Breaking the news to The Guardian in recent days, local Labour Party TD Alan Kelly stated: “I’m delighted to be able to let the people of Tipperary know that Siga Hydro, the company behind the Silvermines Hydro Electric Plant, have received a huge investment commitment for their project.”
The project is officially designated as a European Project of Common Interest and has already being in receipt of substantial funding from the European Commission.
Deputy Kelly said the site will add in excess of 300MW of much-needed flexible storage capacity to the national grid and would help to clean up an old mining site of approximately 150 acres.
CEO of Siga Hydro Holdings Ltd., Darren Quinn, who has been driving the project for the past eight years, has also enthusiastically welcomed the financial backing from the London based group.
A delighted Deputy Kelly told The Guardian the announcement of further financial backing was a high point in a campaign he has waged since 2015 to get the green energy power station under construction.
“I have worked with Darren Quinn on this ever since he walked into my office in 2015. We have jumped through many hoops over the years and so this is a big day for Darren,” said Deputy Kelly.
He added: “It’s an incredible project that is so needed by this country and I know will be welcomed locally in the Silvermines, Nenagh and surrounds and across Tipperary and Ireland.
“The project will go through a planning process now with An Bord Pleanala over the next two years and the aim is to have it fully operational by 2030.”
LOCAL BASE
Deputy Kelly revealed that Mr Quinn’s company will be setting up a base for the project locally over the coming weeks.
He thanked local Labour Party councillor Fiona Bonfield for all her help over many years with the project and the people of Silvermines who, he said, were always supportive.
In a press released last Thursday, Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners, Foresight Group’s energy transition fund, announced an unspecified investment in the development the pumped storage plant.
The funds it will be investing is in addition to the grant funding awarded to the project by the European Commission earlier this year.
The European Climate Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (CINEA) granted Silvermines Hydro €4.3 million, and the combined support of this funding and the latest investment from the London based group is set to expedite the project.
The project site is located over 148-hectare and will utilise an existing reservoir on the mountains and the development of a second reservoir.
GREEN ELECTRICITY
Water will be pumped through turbines from one reservoir to the other to generate green electricity.
“The project will play an essential role in balancing the grid and will play its part in reducing Ireland’s fossil fuel dependency and allowing the integration of more variable renewable generation on the grid,” stated Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners when it announced its investment last week.
It added: “The project will create job opportunities in the region and deliver significant environmental benefits. The project is well supported on a local and national level, having been identified in Ireland’s “Review of the Security of Energy Supply of Ireland’s Electricity and Natural Gas Systems” as a mitigating solution to Ireland’s energy challenges.
Co-manager of Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners and Partner, Richard Thompson, said: “We are delighted to be investing in another important pumped storage project project that will help facilitate the achievement of Ireland’s 2030 renewables targets. We look forward to our partnership with Siga Hydro and bringing this exciting project to fruition.”
CEO of Siga Hydro Holdings Ltd, Darren Quinn said: “We very much welcome our partnership with Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners. Their status as long- term investors with substantial financial capacity and their strategic vision is of utmost importance for projects like ours that require sustained commitment.
“The expertise and knowledge of the Foresight Team, under the leadership of Partner Richard Thompson, have been instrumental and align seamlessly with our shared values.”