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Arguments for developing a lignite mine and power station

Ballymoney Power Limited (BPL) is is owned by AuIron Energy, an Australian company. A prospecting licence was granted in 1986 and this has been renewed every two years since then. BPL now want to gain planning permission for a mine and power station. The power station will be located off Gracehill Road close to the village of Kilraghts.

The proposal will require a connection to the national grid at Kells. A number of alternative sites for the power station were considered. However to have to transport the lignite more than 10 kilometres from the mine would be too costly to allow the project to go ahead. It would also require 456 trucks each day to transport the lignite.

Accordingly an onsite power station is a more sensible option. The lignite will be mined at a rate of 6 million tonnes each year, but only 800 hectares of the mine site will be affected at any time.

The development has a number of benefits:

• The market for electricity in the island of Ireland is likely to require addition power generation by 2007.
• Ireland has a dependence of 73% on imported fuels and the cost of electricity is higher than in the rest of the British Isles.
• Gas supplies are dominated by just 5 countries (UK, Algeria, former Soviet Union, Norway and Netherlands). Of these Norway, Former Soviet Union and Algeria are set to increase their production. One fear is that these countries will come together to force up the price of natural gas, forcing countries that depend on imported fuels to pay increased price to generate electricity. At present 53% of Northern Ireland's electricity is generated by gas: by 2005 it is forecast to expand to 65% and to 90% by 2020.
• The project would provide a major economic boost to the local area and to the island as a whole.
• The rehabilitation of the area after mining will involve the upgrade of public roads in the area and the creation of a lake in the mined area.
• The construction and operation of the mine will bring much needed employment into the Ballymoney area, and further spin off benefits. It is estimated that the mine and power station operations will employ 300 people. Design and construction will produce as many as 1,500 direct jobs, but this should generate between 3 and 5 times more jobs than that because of a 'multiplier effect'.
• The development will not affect any internationally or Nationally designated or protected sites.
• The potential effects of mining on the groundwater below the River Bush has been considered and flow compensation measures have been proposed.
• The mine will not affect the whole development area at once as it is planned in a number of stages. At each stage the land used before will be returned to its natural state.
• There are 30 recorded archaeological monuments within the development area. Some, such as the inscribed stone at Drumnaqueran, can be removed and replaced at the end of the mining. Others, such as the rath at Upper Greenshields will be fully excavated before they are destroyed.

The Ballymoney deposit contains an estimated 700 million tonnes of lignite and is a major asset for Northern Ireland. It is well suited for use as a fuel for generating electricity. Tests have shown a low sodium (0.02%) and chlorine (0.01%) content which suggests that the fuel will allow efficient heat exchange to the boilers in the power plant. Also there is only 0.22% sulphur in the lignite so this should reduce the risk of pollution from the burning.

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