Appealed lodged over planning approval for County Roscommon battery energy storage facility

Roscommon County Council’s decision to award planning permission for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) near the shores of Lough Allen in North Roscommon has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

In a detailed submission, Lough Allen Conservation Association has lodged the appeal against last month’s decision to grant permission to Arigna LDES Ltd for the development on the site of the former Arigna Power Generating Station, which is adjacent to the existing 110kV Arigna substation.

BESS systems are used to store excess energy from the power grid, so it can be later used when electricity demand is high.  The development on a 1.6 hectares site would include the installation of 56 battery containers and medium voltage power stations at Tawlaght & Srabragan, Lough Allen, County Roscommon. The site is located just off the R280 approximately 10 kilometres of Drumkeeran and seven kilometres north of Drumshanbo. Lough Allen borders the proposed development site to the east.

In its planning application, Arigna LDES Ltd said there was a need to increase the volume of energy storage on the grid in Ireland as well as increase the volume of wind and solar generation “if we are to meet our 2030 and 2050 targets.” Before the appeal to An Bord Pleanála, a number of people had already expressed their objections formally to the development on a range of grounds, including health and safety; the potential for the facility to cause fire; the lack of sufficient resources to deal with a major fire, and devaluation of property in the vicinity.

Some of those who submitted their objections to the planning application also raised concerns about lithium-ion batteries presenting a risk of major hazard due “to the risk of failure”.

In the decision to grant approval last month, the county planners considered the company’s planning application to be in accordance with local and regional policy. They deemed that the development would not have a significant environmental impact and a negligible impact on residential amenity.

Planning was granted subject to nineteen conditions. One of them stipulated that an updated Emergency Response Plan – to consider all potential emergencies on site including fire, explosion and accidental spillages - must be submitted for the written agreement of the planning authority, in conjunction with Roscommon County Council’s Fire Service.

An Bord Pleanála is due to decide on the appeal by late April 2025.