€650 million Silvermines hydro project goes before An Bord Pleanála

Gordon Deegan

Plans to establish a €650 million hydroelectric pumped storage power project located at the former mine site Silvermines, Co Tipperary, have taken a major step forward.

This follows An Bord Pleanála confirming that the Silvermines Hydroelectric Energy Storage Project has been deemed mature enough to enter the permit granting process for Projects of Common Interest.

Projects of Common Interest (PCI's) are essential infrastructure projects that aim to strengthen the European energy market and help the EU achieve its energy and climate goals.

The appeals board stated that it has acknowledged the Silvermines Hydroelectric Energy Storage Project in its capacity as national competent authority to evaluate Projects of Common Interest.

The appeals board will evaluate the project under an EU procedure which aims to streamline the consenting process for trans-European energy projects which are contained in a list of projects adopted by the European Commission.

The Silvermines Hydroelectric Energy Storage Project, when operational, will be able to store as much as 296 Megawatts (MW), with a daily storage capacity up to 2,175MWh of electricity.

This will be sufficient to power 185,000 households or 21,000 small businesses in Ireland everyday.

The project was first mooted about a decade ago and the 148-hectare site is located in Tipperary on the Northern ridge of the Silvermines Mountain range.

Local TD, Alan Kelly (Lab) has been a long time supporter of the project which will utilise the existing void to create a lower reservoir and see the creation of a second, upper reservoir just below the crest of the hilltop.

Silvermines Hydro project is being developed and managed by Siga-Hydro Limited, an Irish company based in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.

In 2023, the project owners teamed-up with the Foresight Group, a global infrastructure investor.

Accounts for a connected firm Silvermines Tipp Hold Co Ltd show that it received a capital injection of €14.5 million in 2023.

The Project of Common Interest procedure now being overseen follows three steps - notification; pre-application procedure and statutory permit granting procedure.

After the permit granting procedure, An Bord Pleanála will make a final decision on the project.

It is estimated that the project will create 400 jobs during construction and throughout its operational phase it is expected to employ as many as 50 employees in the pumped hydro station alone.

In advance of the plans being lodged, Siga Hydro hosted three informational events at Silvermines across three days in December where over 120 community members participated.