Shannon LNG is proposing to develop a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal on the

Shannon Estuary The Shannon Estuary ( gle, Inbhear na Sionainne) is a large estuary where the River Shannon flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The estuary has Limerick City at its head and its seaward limits are marked by Loop Head to the north and Kerry Head to th ...

near

Ballylongford Ballylongford (historically ''Bealalongford'', from ) is a village near Listowel in northern County Kerry, Ireland. Geography The village is situated near the estuary of the Ballyline River, on Ballylongford Bay, a tidal estuary of the River Sha ...

and

Tarbert Tarbert ( gd, An Tairbeart) is a place name in Scotland and Ireland. Places named Tarbert are characterised by a narrow strip of land, or isthmus. This can be where two lochs nearly meet, or a causeway out to an island. Etymology All placenames ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

to be built and operated by Shannon LNG Ltd, a company owned 50/50 by Hess LNG a subsidiary of the US multinational Hess Corporation and US hydrocarbons trading and transportation company Poten & Partners Inc.

Project

The site was originally owned by

Shannon Development Shannon Development (legally the ''Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited'' formerly known as SFADCO) was an important regional development body for the Shannon Region of Ireland. Its area in the lower River Shannon basin comprised al ...

who have been courting a development for the site for many years owing to its sheltered location. In 2002, the natural gas Pipeline to The West was completed, crossing the Shannon 25 km from the site of the proposed terminal. The project, the first LNG terminal in Ireland, is expected to cost €500 million. It will contain four insulated storage tanks of 200,000 cubic metres capacity and a regassification facility linked to the gas transmission system.

Planning and safety

As the project qualifies as strategic infrastructure under the

Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006 Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is co ...

and, consequently

An Bord Pleanála (; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major ...

and not

Kerry County Council Kerry County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chiarraí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kerry, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and c ...

was the Planning Authority. The Kilcolgan Residents' Association and the Friends of the Irish Environment have lodged application for a judicial review of

's decision to approve the project on safety and environmental grounds. In Ireland, development consent is divided among different statutory bodies. In order to obtain full development consent Shannon LNG requires an Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Licence (IPPC) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a Foreshore Licence from the Department of the Environment for the construction of the marine aspects of the project. In January 2010, the European Commission, in an interim finding, declared that the rezoning of the land for the proposed LNG terminal from 'Rural General' and 'Secondary Special Amenity' should have been subjected to a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as per the EU SEA Directive. The EU Parliament Petitions Committee stated:

“The Commission is also concerned by the discrepancy in the approach of the Irish authorities in dealing with the development under fast track legislation for 'strategic projects' whilst not requiring an SEA. ..On the basis of the further information provided, the Commission has decided to raise the above-mentioned issues with the Irish authorities.”

On 29 November 2011, a major controversy was highlighted when the Irish Energy Minister announced in Parliament that the coming on stream of Shannon LNG in Ireland would lead to gas prices rising instead of falling. Minister Pat Rabbitte told the Dáil:

“The model is based on Irish prices following United Kingdom prices plus an additional amount for the price of transport through the interconnectors. In an environment in which gas from the Corrib field and LNG meet some or all of Irish demand, the interconnectors built and owned by Bord Gáis Éireann would become under utilised and their proper remuneration by the reduced number of gas customers becomes an issue. In such circumstances, the prices for the consumer would go up and there would be a windfall gain for the multinationals. Deputy Ferris is likely to be minded to agree with me that this is not the outcome we seek. We have no wish for prices to be pushed up as a result of a stranded asset, that is, the interconnector, and a windfall profit to the multinationals, much as we welcome them here, whether they are associated with Corrib or LNG."

Shannon LNG, in reaction, has referred the dispute with the Irish Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) over a proposed interconnector tariff to the European Commission. Gordon Shearer, CEO of HESS LNG stated that the tariff not only contravened EU law but represented a massive policy shift from the previous government’s stance on interconnector policy. In July 2014, media reports indicated the project had finally been abandoned and the company website was taken offline.

References

{{reflist

External links

Shannon LNG planning website
(No Longer Online as of December 2014)
Safety Before LNG lobby group
Natural gas companies of the Republic of Ireland Energy infrastructure in the Republic of Ireland Proposed liquefied natural gas terminals