Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (FEIP) is investing in the development of a new pumped storage hydro project in the Republic of Ireland.
The 148-hectare site is located in Tipperary on the Northern ridge of the Silvermines Mountain range.
The project will use the existing void to create a lower reservoir and see the creation of a second, upper reservoir just below the crest of the hilltop.
Once developed, the plant will have a 1.8GWh storage capacity which can be delivered at a rate of 300MW over a period of six hours.
The investment by FEIP is in addition to the grant funding awarded to the Silvermines Hydro project from the European Commission through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) earlier this year.
The European Climate Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (CINEA) granted Silvermines Hydro €4.3m and the combined support of this funding and FEIP’s investment will expedite project implementation.
The project will be able to vary loads and to rapidly switch between import and export modes with high round trip efficiency, thereby allowing access to a range of ancillary grid support services as well as traditional load shifting.
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.
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.
This announcement follows FEIP’s first PSH investment into the Glenmuckloch Pumped Storage Hydro project in Scotland last year.
Co-manager of Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners and Partner, Richard Thompson, said: “This is critical strategic infrastructure asset for Ireland that will help enable decarbonisation of the power system, bring employment opportunities to the local area and complete the restoration of a disused mining site that will create a long-lasting legacy for the local community.
“We look forward to our partnership with Siga Hydro and bringing this exciting project to fruition.”