A proposed large-scale energy storage project in Northern Ireland has been awarded EU funding of €90 million.
The Larne compressed air energy storage (CAES) project is being developed by Gaelectric and would contribute to system flexibility and stability and facilitate the large-scale penetration of renewables, the European Commission said.
The project has been awarded funds from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which is a key European funding instrument for targeted infrastructure projects. It is one of several CAES projects that Gaelectric is working on in Europe, the company said.
Located in deep salt cavern on the Islandmagee peninsula of Antrim, the Larne project will be able to store excess energy generated by wind power plants. It would be capable of generating 330 MW of power for periods of 6 to 8 hours and creating 250 MW of demand on the system.
Larne is an EU project of common interest (PCI) and has previously been awarded EU grants totalling around €15 million.
