New ESB Power Plant for East Cork is the Wrong Type and will Block Introduction of Wind Energy

Quentin Gargan, Green Party Candidate for Cork South-West has criticised the decision of the Commissioner for Energy Regulation to approve a new gas-fired power station to be built by the ESB at Aghada, Co. Cork. The new 400mw station is to be built over the next 18 months at a cost of €300M.

“If we are to introduce wind, wave and other renewable energy onto the grid, it is essential that new gas-fired stations are designed to act as an effective back-up. In other words, it should be easy to turn them up and turn them down as wind power increases and decreases” said Gargan “This new station is a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT), which is designed to run continuously and has very little flexibility in its output”

“CCGTs effectively sterilise the grid for future wind and wave power, making it increasingly difficult to manage renewable energy on the grid.”

At a recent Irish Wind Energy Association Conference, Quentin Gargan called on the Commissioner for Energy Regulation to stop the introduction of further CCGT turbines and to only permit the construction of power plants which, in the future, would complement renewable energy systems.

ENDS