Silvermines hydro-electric project to power the country and help secure energy supply

A Tipperary project is set to play a major part in plans for Ireland’s energy security.

The €650m hydro-electric storage station proposed for Silvermines forms part of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications security of energy supply review which was launched recently.

The proposed plant, which would see water pumped between two storage ponds at the old Magcobar mine, generating electricity to power 200,000 homes, has already received the backing of Brussels.

The news has been welcomed by local Labour TD Alan Kelly, who launched the plan in 2016.

“I’m delighted that as part of the new national energy security review, there is a proposal for an approximately 450MW/1.8 gigawatt-hours of pumped storage.

“This finally acknowledges that our country needs a new large- scale pump storage facility to help with our country’s deepening energy crisis,” he said.

Deputy Kelly said that the Silvermines project, which has been planned for a number of years, already was the only electricity generating plant planned for Ireland included in the European Network of Transmission Systems Operators for Electricity (ENTSOE) plan for 2018 to 2028.

The project will be the second hydro generator in the country, along with the ESB’s Turlough Hill facility in Wicklow.

“I now look forward to this review being concluded and this project being supported by the Government financially and in every other way.

“It is part of the mix of solutions that will help future-proof our energy needs,” he said.

A planning application for the project is expected to be submitted in the first quarter of 2023.