Image credit: GE Vernova

Irish utility Electricity Supply Board of Ireland (ESB) has ordered a simple cycle power plant from GE Vernova’s Gas Power business for their facility in Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland.

The Shannonbridge Power Plant will be a new temporary reserve power plant designed to deliver up to 264MW.

The plant will consist of eight GE LM2500XPRESS aeroderivative gas turbines which will provide greater reliability of electricity supply in the region.

The plant, built within the site boundary of a decommissioned older power plant facility, will not be available to the open electricity marketplace. Rather it is designed to provide flexible, quick start-up emergency power that helps to ensure a reliable source of temporary power and reduces the risk of power supply shortages.

A three-year Operations and Maintenance (O&M) service agreement was also signed with GE, which includes operation, repairs and scheduled maintenance on the simple cycle power plant.

“Emergency power plants, like Shannonbridge and North Wall, need to start quickly and run when electricity demand is high and generation capacity from other sources available on the system is at risk of not meeting demand,” said Joseph Anis, president & CEO, Europe, Middle East & Africa, GE Gas Power.

At the core of the LM2500XPRESS units are the LM2500 aeroderivative gas turbines, which are 95% factory assembled into simplified modules for faster site installation.

The Shannonbridge Power Plant will be operational during the 2023-2024 winter season and will serve as a reserve power plant through to the end of the 2026-2027 winter season.

According to the International Energy Agency, Ireland has improved its energy security through an increase in domestic gas production and a reduction in oil’s share in energy supply. The country has also made significant gains in terms of offshore wind.

Sean Hughes, modelling analyst at Cornwall Insight Ireland: “The increased ambition for building renewables over the last year is encouraging, however, there are significant obstacles to overcome if Ireland hopes to achieve its renewable energy targets. One major challenge is increasing the energy obtained from each auction until 2030, which is no small feat. Merely maintaining the current pace will not suffice if we aim to meet the targets.”