MID CORK FIRM MAY HAVE TO DEMOLISH BATTERY PLANT
REDFAZE LTD MAY HAVE TO TAKE DOWN FOUR BATTERY UNITS
A COMPANY which erected a development of four battery storage units for power from wind turbines faces the prospect of tearing down the development unless An Bórd Pleanála allows its appeal against the Cork County Council decision to refuse planning permission for the retention of the development.
Redfaze Ltd, a company owned by Kilmuray based ecopower magnates, Michael and David Murnane, had applied for a retention of the development near Curraglass which is close to the historic battle site of Céim an Fhia on the Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh to Bantry road last year but the application had been refused in November.
An appeal was lodged by the company to An Bórd Pleanála just before Christmas.
Cork County Council cited among its reasons to turn down the initial application the fact that the battery development and ancillary buildings was intended to occupy the site of a number of windmill turbines which had been decommissioned.
The original intent was that the site would be restored to its original state of wilderness after the removal of the windmills based on the principles of sustainable development for the ‘next generation’.
“The siting of four battery storage units coupled with the electricity substation that is required to be decommissioned, would lead to ‘inappropriate development’ and over a further 30 year longer term lead to the semi industrialisation of an otherwise unspoilt mountain,” the Cork County Council refusal states.
An application for a second development of another four battery storage units nearby, also by the Lissarda based company, Redfaze Limited, was submitted in January of last year but marked incomplete by the Planning Office in Cork County Council. Its status is now unclear.
Battery storage units are designed to store the energy generated by windmill turbines so that the power can be evenly distributed on days when there is wind, and the days when there isn’t. However they are surrounded by controversy arising out of concerns over safety.
A similar plant in Ballyhulla near Ballydesmond in County Kerry was objected to with one concerned resident claiming: “The lithium batteries used in compounds can explode and can cause fire and toxic clouds.”
The two developments proposed by Redfaze Limited for Curraglas near popular tourist spot Gugán Barra each consisted of four battery storage units, palisade fencing, concrete plinths, associated electrical equipment, transformers and all ancillary site works.
The application which was withdrawn recently concerned an extension to an existing electricity substation on this site. There had been a number of objections to one of the Curraglass proposals, including one from a local development committee in Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh and a local school. There was a windfarm previously on this site but it was removed due to technical difficulties.
However Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh is a hotspot for windfarm turbine development and concerns have been expressed that the battery storage units proposed for Curraglass will also be proposed for other areas.
Redfaze Limited is a company whose directors are listed as Michael and David Murnane. It was established in 2015. It is based in Lissarda. Both David and Michael Murnane have been directors of 113 other companies between them
While no website is listed for Redfaze Limited, both David and Michael Murnane of Macroom were listed as directors of another company in Lissarda, Enerco Energy Ltd.
This company describes itself as one of Ireland’s leading renewable energy deveopers and its brochure says it is researching new technologies such as battery storage.