Major air domes planned in Rhode for storage of carbon dioxide

Two major air domes, each 34 metres in height, are being proposed in the Rhode area of Offaly for the storage of carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure.

A planning application by Rhode LDES (Long Duration Energy Storage) Ltd was lodged recently with Offaly County Council seeking approval for the project on a 22-hectare site in the townlands of Coolcor and Clonin, Rhode.

The proposed development site is located in a rural area approximately 1.2 kilometres (km) northwest of the village of Rhode and approximately 6km southeast of the town of Rochfortbridge on lands which formed part of the former ESB-owned, Rhode peat-fired power station site and accordingly is brownfield.

It involves two air dome structure (550m x 120m x 34m) and cooling, compression, pumping and power generation equipment and machinery as well a single-storey storage and control building.

Documents submitted as part of the application indicate the proposed development aims to provide a means of electricity storage, accumulating energy during periods of low demand from the national grid and discharging energy to the national grid during times of increased demand.

“The electricity storage system is based on a technology called CO2 Battery, where two flexible domes, each fabricated using two flexible waterproof membranes made of PVC-coated polyester synthetic fibre, store the energy through a closed-cycle thermodynamic process that uses carbon dioxide (CO2) as the working fluid. The CO2 battery can operate in charge mode, drawing energy from the grid to compress the CO2, and in discharge mode, returning energy to the grid by expanding the CO2 in a turbine,” it said.