Kilroot owners to invest £600m in lower-carbon energy

The owners of Kilroot power station near Carrickfergus are planning a £600m investment to increase lower carbon generation at the site.

It includes an existing plan to convert Kilroot from coal-fired to gas-fired.

EPUKI propose adding solar generation, battery storage and a multi-fuel combined heat and power facility.

The company said it intended to maintain Kilroot as "one of the prime and core indigenous electricity generation sites in Northern Ireland".

The future of the County Antrim power plant had been uncertain in recent years.

In 2018, Kilroot lost out in a capacity auction process to supply the all-island Single Electricity Market (SEM).

It looked to be facing immediate closure but got a reprieve after an agreement was hammered out between then-owners AES, the Utility Regulator and the operator of the grid, SONI.

AES then sold all its Northern Ireland power assets to the Czech company EPUKI.

Without conversion to gas, Kilroot was still facing closure by 2024 as the coal-burning technology would not meet environmental standards.

The wider energy park plans are at an early concept stage.

The company said it they come to fruition it would "represent the largest ever single investment in electricity generation in Northern Ireland."