Planning refused for controversial energy storage facility near Portumna

Planning permission has been refused for a controversial energy storage facility near Portumna.

It’s one of three projects being advanced by Coolpowra Flex Gen Ltd as part of an overall project to establish a power generator in the area.

The site is around 5km north west of Portumna and almost 4km south east of Killimor.

There’s been staunch opposition to the overall project, with local residents setting up their own campaign group – the East Galway Gas Plant Concern Group.

It’s reminiscint of the long-running and ultimately successful campaign in Gort against a planned biogas plant on the outskirts the town.

This project at Coolpowra is of course very different – it’s a reserve gas-fired power generator, battery energy storage facility, and a grid substation.

But the arguments against it are similar – it’s allegedly not the right location and is claimed to pose risks to the people of the area, to the environment, and to wildlife.

A planning application to Galway County Council drew a landslide of submissions roundly critical of the project, including lack of consultation.

Now, county planners have refused permission – on three main grounds.

They found the road network isn’t suitable, and it hadn’t been shown that nearby conservation sites wouldn’t be affected.

They also held that the energy storage facility is premature when the power generator and substation are still awaiting a decision from An Bord Pleanala

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