An Coimisiún Pleanála to receive Rochfortbridge data centre application

Following on from the consultation request from an Offaly based energy company for discussions on a contentious Westmeath data centre and energy project the State planning authority has received a planning application for the venture.

Westmeath County Council gave the go ahead for the €500 million energy facility on the outskirts of Rochfortbridge despite local objections back in 2022.

Lumcloon Energy Ltd was granted planning permission for a gas fuelled power plant and battery storage facility on a 52-acre site next to the M6 motorway at that time.

Red Admiral DC Ltd, a subsidiary of Lumcloon Energy, met with An Coimisiún Pleanála to discuss if planned facilities for the 250MW data centre in Rochfortbridge was Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID). The ACP ruled in May ruling that it was not a SID.

Located in the townlands of Kiltotan, Collinstown, Oldtown, and Farthingstown, plans for the facility were first submitted by the Lumcloon Energy subsidiary in December 2022.

The approach by Red Admiral relates to the proposed 220kV gas insulated switchgear substation, high voltage lines, electric plant and associated site development works. A Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) works by using an insulating gas to shield a system from short circuits. The gas used is usually sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆).

Red Admiral’s parent company, Lumcloon Energy, is behind the €500 million Castlelost Flexible Generation energy project in Rochfortbridge, which includes a 65MW battery storage facility and a 275MW FlexGen power plant fuelled by natural gas that will provide backup to the national grid.

The development connects to a permitted reserve gasfired generator development and battery energy storage system development on adjacent lands, for which planning permission has been granted by Westmeath County Council.

Notice parties include Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Irish Aviation Authority, and Geological Survey Ireland.

The application site and surrounding lands are in agricultural use, comprising fields with well-defined hedgerow and fenced boundaries.

Red Admiral DC Ltd are set to lodge the application with An Coimisiún Pleanála.