THE GOVERNMENT HAVE said the State’s emergency gas reserve will be stored at Cahiracon, Co Clare.

Earlier this year, cabinet approved a plan to develop an emergency gas reserve to improve Ireland’s energy security.

Minister for Energy Daragh O’Brien said Cahiracon was the optimal location for the development of the emergency reserve, which will be in the form of a Floating Storage and Regassification Unit (FSRU) operated by Gas Networks Ireland (GNI).

It’s a large vessel that will be able to store and transport Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and turn it from liquid back to a gaseous state to supply to the national gas network.

The government has stressed that it will only be used in emergency circumstances.

Once the site is acquired, GNI will be able to progress to the design phase, which will then be put to Government for a decision.

It will have capacity for 170,000 cubic metres of LNG, which could supply Ireland’s entire gas demand for seven days.

The government has stressed that it will only be used in emergency circumstances.

However, some ‘boil-off gas’ created during evaporation must be removed to preserve the tanks’ pressure and a ‘minimum’ amount will be sent to the national gas network so that gas isn’t lost in that process — which means the reserve will likely need to be refilled up to six times per year.

The ship will be moored on a purpose-built jetty at a ‘coastal site’ somewhere in Ireland.

Ireland’s lack of domestic gas storage has been pointed to as a potential risk for energy security if an interconnector that supplies our gas imports is damaged.

However, environmentalists say they are “very concerned” that developing new gas infrastructure is a dangerous move at a time when Ireland and the world at large need to be moving away from fossil fuels, not investing more into them. 

Ciaran Brennan, spokesperson for environment NGO network Environmental Pillar, previously The Journal that the group is “very concerned” by the plan, warning that it risks deepening Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels and “lock us into a gas infrastructure when we should be moving to clean, renewable and fossil-free energy”.

With additional reporting from Lauren Boland