PRE INVESTIGATION CONCEPT INFORMATION - Organic Power

The following important species of flora: Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), Hoary Rock-rose (Helianthemum), PyramidalBugle (Ajuga pyramidalis), Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum), Mountain Avens (Dryas octopetala), Wintergreen(Pyrola media) and Round Prickly-headed Poppy (Papaver hybridum) have been identified in the North West Clarecoastal area, within which the site is located. The important butterfly species Brown Hairstreak and Pearl Bordered Fritillarycan also be found in the area. Rock crevices in the reservoir embankments and surrounding areas would be filledwith soils removed from the mountain to encourage regrowth of the local flora. This would also prevent soil erosion.The concept site area is part of the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and proposed Natural HeritageArea (pNHA) Site Code 000020, Black Head -Poulsallagh Complex. Organic Power Ltd. intends toengage fully with the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) and local environmental groups toinvestigate the potential for effective and satisfactory mitigation for any habitat loss or disturbance.1.4 Operations1.4.1 OverviewThe concept Gleninagh, Co. Clare sea water PHES concept would be commissioned to supply electric power from4 hydroelectric pump-turbines, to be produced by pumping 16,500,000 meters cubed water to a gravitationalhead of approx. 300 meters using approx. 960MW of electric power sourced from the grid during off peak hoursof electricity demand, and drawing down this head while producing approx. 836MW of power from the turbineswhich power is delivered to the grid during peak hours. All of the input electric power would be sourced from gridconnected wind and wave energy projects. The process would transform unpredictable and variable windpowerto reliable, dispatchable clean energy delivered to the grid.1.4.2 Electric Energy1.3.13 Construction TimetableFlora on Gleninagh MountainThe following approximate construction schedule would start within 12 months of receipt of planning and gridpermits, if lodged. If construction started, commissioning would be projected within 30 months.The filling of the reservoir to an operational level would take 15-24 weeks depending on the precipitation levels.The PHES scheme would deliver power 9.75 hours per day, corresponding to peak demand from 0600-1030 and1615-1930. The scheme would accept energy off peak for 4 up to 20 hours per day depending on the availablewind energy. Energy is lost in the process through resistance and less than 100% efficiency in the pump andturbine. These losses are more than compensated both in value and power quality, by the fact that intermittentand unpredictable power is delivered via PHES as a predictable quality product in time and volume. The amountof wind energy capacity that would need to be available to supply the scheme is approximately 2500MW installedcapacity of wind turbines, assuming that the wind turbines are on average 31% efficient, and that the PHESrequires a minimum of 10,370MW hours per day over 14 hours, requiring an average input of 780MW. In theevent wind power is not available for the scheme, it would add energy efficiency potential to existing fossil fuelplants which would enable the conservation of up to 50% of the energy produced nationally which is currentlywasted due to over production.1.5 EmploymentActivity1) Site access Clearance & SiteCompound Setup2) Construct access road3) Rock/ soil / peat excavation4) Construction of Turbine Cavern5) Upper Reservoir soil/peatexcavation6) Upper Reservoir rock removal &formation of banking /retaining walls7) Construction of Upper ReservoirInlet Structure8) Excavation & tunelling works forpipe line path9) Construction of High-PressurePipeline from upper to lowerreservoir10) Apply water tight asphalt liningto upper reservoir and rubber sealerto embankment11)Fit-out of Cavern- Pump Turbine,Generator etc12) Construction & fit-out ofTransformer building13) Laying underground/overground high voltage cable fromsite to nearest local network14) Testing/CommissioningTable 1: Proposed Construction Schedule – Gleninagh, Co. Clare PHESDuration (Months)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30When operational, the plant would require 1 part time supervisor, and the equivalent of 1.5 full time technicalstaff for maintenance and management. The total full time job creation would be 2.1.6 DecommissioningIt is current practice to re-commission PHES plants once the technical life of its components is over, due to theincreasing penetration of wind power into power grids. For example, many schemes in mainland Europe whichwere built in the 1930s are now being re-tooled and upgraded after 70 years of operation (i.e. Waldeck 1 PHES,Hessen, Germany, owned and operated by EON).However, in the event that decommissioning is warranted for unforeseen superseding of the technology byadvances elsewhere in power systems, the following would be undertaken as decommissioning:• All roads and structures would remain in place for future re-use.• The top reservoir would be maintained empty, and habitat recreated on top of the reservoir bottom forrelevant flora and fauna.24World’s first Sea Water Pumped Hydro Electric Storage Scheme at Yanbaru, Okinawa, Japan