Latest news with #Coillte
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
New batteries based on rusting will help make Ireland's energy secure and clean
One of Ireland's most exciting and important energy projects is quietly being developed at a remote outpost in Donegal, not far from Malin Head. FuturEnergy Ireland, a joint venture between Coillte and ESB, has been granted planning permission to build Europe's first iron-air battery facility, a new technology that promises to store renewable energy for weeks while enhancing and supporting the electricity grid. Known as the Ballynahone Energy Storage project, it will look modest – a collection of weatherproof containers on a three-hectare site beside an electrical substation – but what it represents could be transformative. Iron-air batteries are a new form of long-duration energy storage (LDES) that is needed to help Ireland reduce its dependence on fossil gas and keep the lights on during the so-called Dunkelflaute – periods of still, dark weather when neither wind nor solar can contribute meaningfully to electricity supply. Ireland is particularly vulnerable to such events. We lack large hydro dams or the kind of strong power grid interconnection that allows countries like Denmark or the Netherlands to share surpluses with neighbours. We remain deeply reliant on gas, an increasingly insecure and volatile source of energy, with rising prices, geopolitical risks and high emissions. Plans to allow liquefied natural gas terminals and gas-fired power-generation capacity risk locking us into this dependency for decades. READ MORE There are two main routes away from this: interconnection and storage. Both are needed. Mass interconnection was the cornerstone of the late Eddie O'Connor's vision for a pan-European 'supergrid', where electricity flows freely across borders, smoothing out supply and demand of renewable energy. But even that won't cover us when entire regions are becalmed and dark. Until recently, most storage solutions were either short-duration lithium-ion batteries or pumped hydro schemes – both useful, but limited to hours, rather than days or weeks. A new generation of long-duration storage technologies is emerging. Iron-air batteries, like those planned in Donegal, work on an elegant principle: they store electricity through reversible rusting . They're slow, responding over hours and days, not seconds – but that's exactly what's needed to back up renewables over longer timescales. The key material, iron, is cheap, abundant and non-toxic – unlike lithium or cobalt, which are costly and face supply constraints. Lithium-ion batteries are more suitable for cases where size and weight are a priority, like electric vehicles and phones, whereas iron-air is more suitable for stationary storage. Form Energy, the US firm behind the iron-air technology in Donegal, say their batteries will store electricity at one-tenth of the cost of lithium-ion. They also say it is very safe, with no risk of thermal runaway. Donegal was chosen for a good reason. A greater share of wind energy is curtailed there than anywhere in Ireland, because the electricity grid can't absorb it. This lost energy, known as curtailment, increases our electricity bills, discourages investment in renewables and triggers the need for costly and controversial overhead transmission lines. Batteries located near substations, like Ballynahone, can soak up surplus power locally, reducing curtailment and pressure on the grid. This won't be a silver bullet. A hundred projects like this would be needed to replace the generation capacity of Moneypoint, which has long been a bedrock of Ireland's electricity security – albeit a highly polluting one. Ireland's energy future depends on more than just building wind and solar farms A critical challenge now is how clean storage can compete with fossil gas, when today's infrastructure and market is built around it. While Form Energy says the technology can compete with legacy power plants, the cost of the project in Donegal has not been disclosed and the technology is only at the cusp of commercial development. Ireland also already has a pipeline of new gas-generation capacity which is designed to fill the gaps in wind and solar, diminishing the immediate case for clean storage. That said, legal challenges to new gas infrastructure may shift the balance. Friends of the Irish Environment has recently lodged a judicial review of a proposed 600 megawatt gas power plant at the proposed site of the Shannon LNG terminal, in a case that could set precedent. If gas projects are delayed or blocked on climate grounds, clean alternatives like storage may have more space to scale. Battery technologies, being modular and factory-built, also have the advantage of rapid deployment and steep cost declines – as we've seen with solar panels and lithium-ion. Other storage technologies may yet outcompete iron-air. I'm sceptical that hydrogen will play any role in everyday energy use, but it could become a strategic storage option. Likewise, there are exciting developments in battery chemistries based on sodium, zinc or flow technology, and systems that store energy via heat, gravity or air compression. Ireland's energy future depends on more than just building wind and solar farms. We need energy to be both clean and dependable – when the wind blows and when it doesn't. That requires strategically located, long-duration storage. Donegal's rusting battery containers might be a critical step towards that future. Prof Hannah Daly is professor of sustainable energy at University College Cork
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Irish Independent
Wicklow stately home and grounds has been reimagined and now attracts visitors from all over Ireland
Avondale has been reimagined and now attracts visitors from around the world, as reporter David Medcalf discovered Wicklow People Today at 02:00 Coillte, the State forestry company, is responsible for a million acres and for hundreds of sites around Ireland, with a presence in practically every one of the 26 counties. Their open door policy means that they have at least 250 'recreational' forests. None of the other sites, however, is quite like Avondale in County Wicklow, which has become a light-hearted showcase for Irish forestry and Irish timber. Not so long ago, the place was a handy venue for anyone in the Rathdrum area with a dog that needed walking, more a hidden gem than a national attraction. The big house, once the home of Charles Stewart Parnell, was off limits to the public while the forestry college was long since closed. This still left visitors with an enticing choice of routes to ramble around the splendidly wooded property. However, it was a low key operation as the 500 acre estate was run with a skeleton staff and it was far short of being a must-see item on any tourist agenda. Then the decision was taken to put Avondale on the visitor map in a big way.
Irish Independent
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
ESB denies network is not fit for purpose – ‘wind took down timber and timber took down networks'
Sligo councillors request an ESB contact line so they can report problems raised by constituents Members of the ESB refuted any suggestions that the network is not fit for purpose at a meeting between Sligo County Council members and semi-state organisations and utility providers on Monday morning. The ESB and Coillte were present at the meeting to discuss the impact of storm Éowyn and what lessons can be learned, while eir and Uisce Éireann were unavailable to attend. Related topics Jessica Farry
RTÉ News
23-05-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Council approves 'crucial' Conamara restoration project
Galway County Council has approved plans by Coillte to carry out an environmental restoration project in Conamara. Coillte said the Derryclare peatland restoration project forms part of a wider initiative, which aims to restore over 2,000 hectares of blanket bog and wet heath along the western seaboard. It applied for permission to fell and remove over 340 hectares of existing plantations, in order to allow for the restoration of peatland and to undertake a replanting programme. The lands in question are at Doire an Chláir and Cúil na Ceártan in Co Galway. The restoration project will involve the removal of pine and conifer trees, the blocking of drains and the control of invasive species on the site. It is planned to rewet some 281 hectares of blanket bog, with the remaining portion of land to be replanted with native tree species. An earlier application was refused by the local authority last year and a new submission was made by the company last December. Coillte said the project will have a "wide array of environmental benefits", including enhanced carbon sequestration, rare habitat protection and flood risk management. In its submission to the council, it argued the initiative would reverse damage caused by previous forestry practices and was in keeping with the National Biodiversity Action Plan. The company said without intervention the site would continue to experience peat degradation and that a "crucial opportunity to restore vital environmental functions" on the area would be lost. Planners have attached seven conditions to the permission, including stipulations that the project be overseen by an on-site peatland ecologist and that adequate soakaways are constructed, in order to ensure there is no impact on existing land or road drainage. Coillte has welcomed today's decision and said work will now begin on incorporating the conditions into the wider restoration plan.
Irish Independent
23-05-2025
- Climate
- Irish Independent
Busy day for Louth Fire Service as crews respond to two emergency incidents in one afternoon
Fire crews responded to a wildfire in the Edentubber area, near Turf Road and Ravensdale, east of the Clermont mast and Black Mountain. The first fire appliance was mobilised at 4.58pm, with Coillte and An Garda Síochána already on scene. Due to the scale and nature of the fire, additional resources were quickly dispatched, including another appliance and a specialist water tanker at 5.10pm, followed by a third fire appliance at 7.01pm. Firefighters from Dundalk, Carlingford, and Ardee Fire Stations battled the blaze alongside Coillte staff, who deployed a helicopter to tackle hard-to-reach areas. Louth Civil Defence supported the operation with drone surveillance. After five hours, the fire was successfully contained by 9.53pm and brought under control an hour later. Final fire units returned to their station at 12.20am. Coillte personnel remained on-site to monitor for possible reignition. While several Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service units were initially mobilised, they were stood down as the situation came under control. Meanwhile local emergency services were also called into action, this time to Blackrock beach, where two Spanish teenagers became trapped in sand and surrounded by rising water. Following a 999 call by the teenagers, two fire appliances and a specialist rescue tender from Dundalk Fire Station were dispatched at 4.12pm. Wearing protective clothing and using specialist water rescue equipment, firefighters reached the pair and brought them to a safer location. From there, they were airlifted by a Coast Guard helicopter and landed safely on Blackrock beach. The National Ambulance Service provided on-scene care, and support was also provided by a unit from Clogherhead Coast Guard. The operation concluded with fire units returning to station at 6.42pm.
