Irish firm Net Zero Energy (NZE) aims to construct Rathrush Green Energy Park, a 600MW Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) facility located outside Rathoe in Co. Carlow.

It is a massive, €2 billion infrastructure project designed to tackle the biggest issue facing clean energy today: what to do when the wind stops blowing and the sun refuses to shine. 

The answer is the new facility built on a 50-acre site. It will act as a giant, green infrastructure for the entire country when needed the most. 

“By making available 600MW of renewable energy at the flick of a switch, this project can satisfy as much as 10% of Ireland’s peak energy requirement. Rathrush Green Energy Park provides significant, secure, sustainable long-duration energy storage for the Irish grid,” said Tim Cowhig, NZE chairman. 

Hydrogen production

The strategy addresses a major flaw in current clean energy infrastructure: waste during peak production.

On exceptionally windy or sunny days, Ireland’s renewable sources often generate far more electricity than consumers need or the national grid can handle. Without a way to store this surplus, wind turbines and solar panels are routinely shut off, completely wasting vast amounts of clean power.

Rathrush would capture that discarded energy. It will use the excess electricity to split water and create green hydrogen. Then comes the subterranean twist.

The plan is to compress the green hydrogen gas and pump it deep underground for storage within custom-engineered, lined rock caverns. When peak demand strains the national grid, the stored hydrogen will be released, feeding above-ground turbines to instantly generate clean electricity.

It is a massive scale-up for Irish infrastructure. Upon completion, the park will generate 30 times as much green energy as the famous Turlough Hill pumped-storage facility in Wicklow. According to the company, it is expected to have seven times the generating capacity of the Ardnacrusha hydropower plant. 

Cutting emissions

The company also mapped out the future facility’s environmental payoff. Interestingly, it is projected to displace 180,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every single year. 

Mathematically, that is the equivalent of taking 40,000 combustion-engine cars off Irish roads permanently. It also offers a shield against the punishing climate-target fines that loom over the state budget if carbon goals are missed. 

In addition to cutting emissions, the facility could protect local consumers from volatile global energy prices. 

Ireland’s energy security is uniquely vulnerable, as underscored by an annual spend a €10 billion on imported fossil fuels. 

“By harnessing an energy source which was heretofore being wasted, we can insulate consumers from future fossil fuel crises and price shocks such as we saw in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and more recently, in the Middle East,” said Peter Harte, NZE Chief Executive. 

The construction phase is estimated to employ up to 1,500 workers at its peak. Once the facility goes live, it will anchor 70 permanent, highly skilled operational jobs in the Carlow region. 

NZE is currently steering the project through its community consultation phase to address local questions regarding the scale of the infrastructure. If all goes according to schedule, the developers intend to formally lodge their planning application by the end of the year. 

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