Tarbert Power Station to wind down

THE VIEWS from the ferry of the billowing steam from the pillars of Tarbert Power Station, crossing the Shannon Estuary will soon be no more.

Tarbert Power Station is set to shut off its turbines by the end of 2023, in line with current environmental requirements set out by the EU.

SSE employs 1000 people in Ireland and its business includes owning and operating 28 wind farms totalling 890MW across the island.

While the existing plant will cease operations this year, SSE Thermal has already outlined plans for a new power station at the site with a generating capacity of up to 300MW, which would initially run on sustainable biofuel with the potential to convert to hydrogen in the future.

Shannon Airport expects huge increase in passenger numbers for St Patrick's Day

In preparation for closure, SSE Thermal has now commenced a redundancy consultation process with 37 staff at the Tarbert site.

SSE will work to ensure, where possible, that employees are redeployed across other parts of the group, including potential future projects at the Tarbert site itself.

Where the redeployment of staff is not possible, SSE will offer employees release on enhanced terms.

Catherine Raw, Managing Director of SSE Thermal, said: “We believe the Tarbert Power Station site itself can be home to a new generation of low-carbon flexible power assets.

“I would like to thank the team at Tarbert for their contribution. They can take pride in their stewardship of the plant, and as a company,” she added.