'Sketchy' public information meeting to be held following 'serious concern' over Carlow energy plant
Serious concerns regarding technology being used in the undergrund energy plant have been raised
A “sketchy” public information evening will take place regarding the proposed hydrogen storage facility in Carlow.
Cllr Charlie Murphy labelled the meeting as such, saying that a public meeting for those in Rathoe is not enough.
”The same story again. It is like mushrooms, keep in the dark and feed them sh*t,” Cllr Murphy said, according to the Carlow Nationalist.
The proposed site will be built just outside of Rathoe, at the Rathrush Green Energy Park.
The facility will use surplus renewable electricity to separate hydrogen from wastewater in a process called hydrolysis.
It is estimated to save 180,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per annum, which is the equivalent of taking approximately 40,000 cars off the road.
Those in the Tullow Municipal District have expressed “serious concerns” regarding the facility.
Cllr John Pender raised the issue at the latest meeting of the Council, after the initial public consultation about the plant.
A huge number of locals expressed their fears and concerns at that.
“There are serious concerns in the Rathoe area about this; there is a lot of uncertainty, and people don’t know the facts of it,” Cllr Pender said.
“I think we should invite them here to a specific meeting for the Tullow municipal district immediately,” he added.
The issue of a lack of expertise around the kind of technology being used was also raised.
“There will be huge amounts of hydrogen stored underground and people have serious security concerns about that,” cllr Paton said, adding that some local houses are just 500 metres from the proposed facility,” Cllr Will Paton said.
“This is untrained, untrusted technology. I don’t feel equipped to do it, I doubt if anyone in the planning department is au fait. They are probably pretty good with solar and wind farms at this stage, but hydrogen storage facilities?” he added.
The public information day is due to be held in Rathoe community hall on Wednesday 12 August from 2pm to 9pm.