Shannon LNG mounts court challenge over refusal of Kerry gas terminal

The Ballylongford Tarbert landbank. Picture: Domnick Walsh

The company denied permission to build a €650m liquefied natural gas terminal on a landbank near Ballylongford,  Co Kerry, is taking a judicial review against the An Bord Pleanála decision.

Papers have been lodged in the High Court.

Shannon LNG, a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy, had sought 10-year permission for development consisting of power plant, battery energy storage system, floating storage and regasification unit, jetty, onshore receiving facilities, above-ground installation and all ancillary structures/works on 52ha on the southern shores of the Shannon Estuary, Ballylongford, about 5km west of Tarbert, Co Kerry.

Some 14 ha would be taken up with a gas-powered power plant capable of 600 MW of electricity generation; a 120 MWh battery energy storage system; an LNG terminal capable of offering up to 180,000m3 of LNG storage capacity; and regasification capacity of up to 22.6 million standard cubic metres per day of natural gas, it was proposed.

The floating storage and regasification unit would be moored at the proposed terminal/jetty on a long-term basis and LNG would be transported to the terminal on LNG carrier ships.

The liquid would be converted back into gas by a regasification process for transmission either to the national gas transmission network or to the power plant.

An Bord Pleanála issued a majority decision in September turning down permission.

The majority 8:2 decision was based on Government policy as set out on the importation of fracked gas, that it would be inappropriate to permit or proceed with the development of any LNG terminals in Ireland pending the review of energy supply, An Bord Pleanála said.

Initial analysis in the as-yet-unpublished Review of Energy Supply of Ireland's Electricity and Natural Gas systems by the Department of the Environment "does not support the development of a commercially operated floating LNG terminal", the board also said in its direction. The review has not yet been completed, it also said.

The use of LNG as a primary fuel source for a power station was contrary to current Government policy.

The board also said it had concerns about an "absence of precise detail" in relation to piling and "a full clear assessment of all potential acoustic impacts on the natural condition of critical bottlenose dolphin habitat", and how the terminal would impact their behaviour.

In papers lodged in the High Court this week, Shannon LNG claims An Bord Pleanála has “misinterpreted and misapplied” the Government’s fracked gas policy, and had failed to provide for the possibility that a condition could have been added to the permission restricting the importation of fracked gas.

The company also claims the planning appeal board’s decision had failed to take into account the vulnerable state of Ireland’s energy security.

Shannon LNG is seeking to have the Government’s fracking policy statement quashed, claiming it is counter to EU law and that it was directed at one project — Shannon LNG — and therefore was a direct interference by the Government in the company’s right to natural justice, Radio Kerry reported on Monday.