Community blamed for power plant refusal

Locals blamed for power plant refusal


Community leader claims Mayo is becoming a ‘no’ county, as permission is refused for €140m power plant in Killala

Anton McNulty

THE Killala community has been partly blamed for the decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for the €140 million development by Mayo Power Ltd to develop peat-and-mixed-fuel power plant on the former Asahi Plant in Killala.
Last week, An Bord Pleanála overturned Mayo County Council’s decision to grant planning permission to Mayo Power Ltd, stating that the proposed development would be contrary to national policy to reduce power generation from peat as a source of fuel. The decision had been appealed by Killala Community Council, An Taisce, Asahi Development Committee and local man Michael O’Donnell.
Mr Seán Hannick, Treasurer of Killala Community Council and Chairman of the Council for the West, expressed his disappointment at An Bord Pleanála’s decision and said he felt it would have been a terrific project for the area. He told The Mayo News that it was becoming increasingly difficult to attract investment in Mayo, as it was developing a reputation for saying ‘no’.
“I’m very disappointed at the decision because I thought this would have been a terrific investment in attracting other projects to the area. It would have created 250 jobs in construction and 70 jobs in the plant. However, we have nobody to blame but ourselves because it was the Killala community who objected to it. It will be very hard to attract anything to Mayo because we are getting a name as a ‘no’ county, which says no to everything. It is very difficult to do anything because the system seems to be in favour of the objector rather than the developer,” he said.
The proposed power plant had caused a rift in Killala, especially after a survey revealed that 82 per cent of 500 surveyed in the north Mayo community had responded negatively to aspects of the development. The survey was refuted by many who said it was taken without the agreement of the Killala Community Council and was not independent.
Mr Hannick said that Mayo Power Ltd had done everything they could to put the community’s mind at ease and he hoped they would not abandon the project altogether.
The predominant fuel for the project was to be biomass (65 per cent) supported by locally-sourced peat which the company claimed would produce lower CO2 emissions than a modern gas-fired power station.
The reasoning given by An Bord Pleanála for the refusal of the project was challenged by Mayo Power who said that they were never told at any time that there was a national policy against the judicious use of peat in support of a significant renewable energy project. In a statement, the Mayo Power Directors expressed their extreme disappointment at the decision and said they are now considering their options.
“What An Bord Pleanála has done is to say ‘no’ to the largest renewable solid biomass energy project in Ireland at a time of a major downturn in the Irish economy. It was also to be the largest capacity Combined Heat and Power facility for Ireland, which is the top EU priority in the energy sector to which the Government is committed,” the statement said.
Mr Myles Staunton, a former Mayo TD and senator and joint owner of the company, questioned how power stations in the midlands were able to use peat while it was Government policy not to have one in Mayo. He told The Mayo News the plant was now ‘torpedoed’ by An Bord Pleanála and said it was not viable to use gas instead of peat.
“This is an extraordinary decision to overturn Mayo County Council’s decision. This power plant would have provided 100MW of electricity, two-and-a-half times more than Bellacorick, and was the logical replacement for it. This was a well-thought-out project with direct US investment which was ready to kick off, but is now torpedoed by An Bord Pleanála,” he said.
Michael O’Donnell, who lives and was born and bred within 100 metres of the Asahi site, appealed the decision on the grounds that the transport of peat to the station would result in major road safety hazards. He explained to The Mayo News that he always supported development in Killala and felt it would be viable to use gas in the station instead.
“I disagreed with the environmental and economic rationale behind hauling peat from Ballycroy to Killala through Crossmolina and Ballina, resulting in more than 110 HGVs each way per day on the roads. If we got a gas-fired electricity generating station at Asahi, together with the 270MW windfarm that Bord na Móna is about to construct at Bellacorick, this would be a good start to realising the energy generating potential of the county.
“The potential of utilising combined heat and power on the Asahi site makes this even more attractive from an economic perspective,” he said.