Approval for OCGT Unit at Tynagh Power Station

EPH Group has a combined electricity generation capacity of 26.5GW across sites in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, the UK and Ireland.

This development will contribute to security of supply in Ireland by providing an additional source of indigenous electricity generation in the context of a volatile geopolitical climate causing uncertainty around the import of conventional forms of energy. The CRU has recently identified that Ireland urgently needs at least 2GW of gas-fired OCGT capacity, not only to ensure security of supply but also to sustain economic growth.

This development is also an important part of our transition to Net Zero by 2050 and in the nearer future, meeting climate change targets set for the end of this decade and the next. Ireland has a target of producing 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and to power us on our path to this milestone a certain amount of generation from lower-carbon sources such as gas remains essential to bridge the gap in supply on days when renewable generation is insufficient to meet demand whether that be due to low winds, low tides or a lack of sunlight - the last a familiar fixture in Ireland! The OCGT technology employed by EP at Tynagh provides the electricity grid with the flexibility to meet consumers' demand on such occasions, as the gas-fired generation can be switched on to send power directly to the transmission grid and then switched off once the demand has been met.

Planning approval for the OCGT project was received from An Bord Pleanála in February 2023.