PRE INVESTIGATION CONCEPT INFORMATION - Organic Power

• The development must be located within a reasonable distance of a suitable grid connection for theexport of electric power.• There are two national monuments recorded on Gleninagh mountain of archaeological significance.These are listed as a possible house and enclosure of indeterminate age (002/0060001 and 002/006002).These structures must be protected. Investigations would be carried out to ensure any proposal wouldinvolve protection for these monuments, and to identify any other archaeological remains which mightbe impacted by the concept, if developed.income for many of the people living in the area and surroundings. No adverse impacts on theseactivities or the income and employment that they generate would arise as a result of the development.• Extant rural dispersed housing is an existing use of this environment. While this use is a modification ofthe landscape and environment, when properly sited and built, housing is not an incompatible use of therural landscape, and would be unaffected by the development, due to distance.• Wildlife use of the proposed site is expected to be found to be low.• The unaffected continuation of recreational uses of the greater landscape area such as hunting, hill andcountry walking, scenic driving, and horse riding would be entirely unaffected by the existence of a PHESplant in the area.• The healthy and safe living conditions which exist in the area would continue to be enjoyed after a PHESplant is built, provided that the concept is correctly designed and operated to eliminate the potentiallynegative effects of noise, erosion, and dust.• Residential and agricultural property values would be unaffected by the development.• Existing public road infrastructure would not be materially affected as it is currently of sufficient standardto serve for the purposes of construction traffic.20Archaeological monuments on Gleninagh Mountain Karst pavement on Gleninagh Mountain1.2 Expected Impacts1.2.1 Do-nothing scenarioIn the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement the implications of a Do-Nothing scenario should be takeninto account. The main economic and environmental benefit that would derive from the proposed PHES conceptwould be the provision of energy storage which can be delivered to the grid as dispatchable electric power, at timeswhen demand exceeds base load supply thus allowing wind power to deliver to storage at times when it wouldotherwise be curtailed. It is the intention to supply the input energy from wind energy in totality, which would makethe exported energy green, resulting in the avoidance of nearly 2,000,000 tonnes carbon equivalent emissions fromreduced fossil fuel combustion and the production of 2.8TWhr (2.8 million MWhrs) of reliable clean electricity peryear.In order to be justified, a do-nothing scenario should demonstrate that the decision to pass up this benefit is justifiedby the retention of existing environmental benefits which would be lost as a result of the development. There areno environmental benefits accruing from the production of this energy from fossil fuel powered plants which wouldhave to produce the peak load power to replace the proposed energy storage if it is not commissioned.We must do something about climate change by reducing carbon emissions and this proposed renewable energydevelopment would make a significant contribution to that goal.In order to assess the relative benefits of a do-nothing scenario versus a decision to proceed, the existingenvironmental benefits which would be unchanged, and those that could be negatively affected need to beidentified, and if possible, quantified.1.2.2 Negligible ImpactsThe following environmental benefits of the area would be unaffected by the development:• The tourism sector is the main source of income for the majority of the people living in the area andsurroundings, based on the unique characteristics of the burren landscape. The concept would also be atourist attraction to the area with an onsite visitors centre to provide access to the stunning panoramicviews.• The primary sector (agricultural activities, sheep, forestry, and fishing) is also a significant source of1.2.3 Positive ImpactsThe following environmental benefits of the area would be positively affected by the development:• Direct local income from sustainable use of the environment would increase significantly, enhancing the economicintegrity and security of the area, including a minimum 1 high quality sustainable job in monitoring, and indirect jobcreation through management. Total permanent job creation would be equivalent of 2 full time jobs.• The facility would require the construction of access roads, a turbine hall, penstock, upper reservoir andtetrapod mound wave attenuation structure resulting in significant local economic activity during theconstruction period.• The concept would yield investment return for local and company investors. The facility would befinanced through a prudent combination of debt and equity.• Strategic energy infrastructure which would be emissions free and imported fuel independent, consistentwith EU, State, and County policy would be commissioned, enhancing the future energy security of thecommunity.The concept can be examined for potential to integrate into the scenic tourism assets of the region, by providinga destination in its own right, and opening up access to the stunning views afforded from the mountain, andthe possible incorporation of a visitor’s centre with associated employment opportunities.1.2.4 Negative ImpactsThe following environmental benefits of the area may be potentially negatively affected by the development:• The local visual impact would be minimal.The upper reservoir would change the profile of the mountain as viewed from a distance. Seephotomontages.• The current use of the portion of the site used to accommodate the reservoir for grazing cattle would be lost if thesite is developed.• The existing peat in the area to be used for the upper reservoir would be moved and relocated onsite, subject to baseline assessment and adaptive design.• Existing karst pavement would be lost, it would be studied whether associated floral habitat can bereplaced on the outer bank of the embankments proposed for the reservoir.As is evident from the above list of impacts arising, the benefits that would be foregone in a do-nothing scenarioare significantly greater than the loss of benefits which would result from the development. An attempt to quantifythe economic costs and benefits on an annual basis is given below.