Irish energy storage project secures EU funding

Gaelectric’s compressed air energy storage project will generate up to 330MW for up to six hours

The European Union is to provide financing of up to €6.5 million (£4.5 million) for Gaelectric’s compressed air energy storage (CAES) project near Larne in Northern Ireland.

The project, which has already been included as a Project of Common Interest (PCI) under the EU programme to promote transboundary energy infrastructure, will store energy generated from windfarms in the form of compressed air in especially engineered salt caverns.

The air will be released to the surface and heated with clean burning natural gas to expand its volume and velocity. The air-gas mixture is used to drive a specialised combustion turbine that can generate up to 300MW of power.

The EU finance will help Gaelectric meet the costs of environmental impact assessment and planning activities, as well as front end engineering design for the project.

The Connecting European Facility Co-ordinating Committee said: “The PCI (Project) would contribute to market integration, renewable energy input and system security in both Ireland and the UK (Northern Ireland) .… The project is technologically innovative and has the potential to be replicated in other parts of the EU with suitable geological conditions.”

Brendan McGrath, chief executive of Gaelectric, said: “The opinion and recommendation from the CEF Co-ordinating Committee is a further endorsement of the Larne CAES Project. It follows its designation as a Project of Common Interest in 2013 and the growing recognition among policy makers and energy stakeholders of the vital role that large scale energy storage must play in integrating increasing amounts of renewable energy within modern power systems.

"The Larne CAES Project is the only storage PCI in the United Kingdom and the only CAES PCI in Europe. Larne and Northern Ireland will become the blueprint for CAES storage and the integration of renewable energy sources across the rest of the United Kingdom and Europe,” McGrath added.