ENERGY GIANT, SSE has responded to concerns raised by residents in the Great Island area of Co. Wexford over the height of the new chimney stack at the its power plant which is currently being constructed in the area.
A number of other matters were also raised as being matters of concern by residents who spoke to this newspaper.
This week SSE issued a comprehensive statement to this newspaper addressing the issues raised and also highlighting what the company says will be the positive impact of the new plant once it’s completed.
In the statement, from Peter Gavican, who is the company’s Project Manager for the Great Island CCGT plant, it was highlighted how important it is for the company to be investing almost half a billion Euro into what will be “Ireland’s newest and most efficient power plant”.
“In line with SSE’s core values of safety, excellence and teamwork this major construction project is being delivered on time and to the highest safety and environmental standards,” said Mr. Gavican.
“When completed, SSE’s new CCGT power plant will not only be one of the most reliable clean gas plants on the Irish grid but will also be the country’s most modern and efficient generating site. Most importantly the new landmark plant will significantly reduce Ireland’s overall carbon emissions thereby significantly ‘greening’ energy generation in Ireland.”
He also said SSE is proud of the fact the new plant will operate “in accordance with the most rigorous environmental and safety standards”.
Mr. Gavican said the plant will operate in strict adherence to the permission granted to the company by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Project Manager then commented that some of the issues raised by the residents were directly considered at the planning stage of the project: “The development process included the preparation of a detailed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that addressed areas such as land use impact, air quality and climate impact, human health receptors and ecological assessment, topography, wind patterns, and fuel use among others – all in the context of the requirements of Irish and European directives.”
In the statement he went on to say: “Following this exhaustive process the plant was fully granted all development permissions by An Bord Pleanala as well as an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Licence by the Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency Acts of 1992 to 2007 which permits SSE to operate the plant as it is currently designed and specified.”
Mr. Gavican then commented directly on the concerns raised by residents over the possible effects of plume dispersion from the new chimney stack at the plant.
“We’re pleased to be able to address these concerns so as to ensure there is an absolute understanding of the rigorous modelling process which was employed to assess the effects of emissions from the plant when operated on either natural gas or distillate fuel oil,” he said.
“The EIS used the ADMS modelling process which is an internationally recognised and extensively validated model favoured by the EPA for complex modelling scenarios,” he added.
“Distinguishing features of the ADMS model are its assessment of complex modules such as plume rise, complex terrain and topography, coastlines, concentration fluctuations, meteorological parameters (wind speed, direction and atmospheric stability) and buildings.”
Mr. Gavican said the results of the dispersion modelling as reported in the ADMS assessment demonstrated that “concentrations of all relevant pollutants are predicted to remain well below the relevant air quality standards when the plant is firing on either natural gas or distillate fuel oil”.
Another issue raised by the residents was that of gas oil being stored at the site. With regard to this concern Mr. Gavican said: “Again, we’re pleased to be able to address these concerns. The storage of Gas Oil on site at any CCGT or gas-fired plant in Ireland is a requirement imposed by the Commission for Energy Regulation to ensure ongoing security of supply in the unlikely event of any emergency situation disrupting gas supply to the plant. However, it’s important to note that the determination of the appropriate stack height in the EIS was modelled on the assumption of such an emergency situation disrupting gas supply to the plant and resulting in the plant operating with a 100 per cent plant load factor on distillate fuel oil. Indeed, the EIS was so rigorous that it considered plant operation on fuel oil coinciding with the worst-case meteorological conditions so as to conservatively address plume dispersion from the stack. Even in these conditions, the EPA and An Bord Pleanala determined that the design and height of the stack at the new plant is appropriate for the effective dispersion of pollutants in all scenarios taking into account nearby buildings and terrain.”
He said the company values the opportunity to engage with and address concerns raised by anybody.
(For the full story see this week’s print edition of The Echo)
