Ireland”s First Geothermal Power Plant Approved

Ireland is about to get its first geothermal power plant, following a grant of permission by South Dublin County Council for a facility in Greenogue Business Park in Rathcoole, County Dublin, according to a report by Industrial Info Resources.

Industrial Info says the development will start with the drilling of two deep wells to an approximate depth of 4,000 metres for the extraction and re-injection of natural, hot geothermal water. The heat from the water will be used to drive the geothermal electricity generation plant, which will be capable of generating up to 4.5 megawatts (MW) of electricity to feed the national grid.

The permission was obtained by SLR Consulting (Dublin, Ireland) on behalf of Newcastle Energy Limited (Dublin) just four months after the application was submitted. The application for the 30 million euro ($40 million) plant was made by parent company GT Energy (Dublin), which specializes in geothermal projects, last September. Construction will begin this year, and the plant, which is expected to generate enough power for more than 8,000 homes, will be commissioned in late 2012.