ESB planning to demolish Shannonbridge Power Station in 2026

The ESB has recently revealed plans that it intends to demolish West Offaly Power Station in Shannonbridge in 2026.

The company has had planning permission since 2023 to demolish the plant, but it postponed doing so because of the construction of an Emergency Generation Station on the site.

It was generally believed that West Offaly Power would not be demolished until 2027, or later, but the ESB has now revealed that it wants to proceed at an earlier date than that, by issuing a prior information notice to suppliers about an upcoming opportunity to tender for demolition work.

It's also planned to knock the former power station at Lanesborough in Longford. In Shannonbridge all of West Offaly Power's buildings will be removed, including its famous 80-metre-high stack.

Some people believe that the premises shouldn't be knocked and alternative uses should be found for it.

The station ceased production in late 2020, as part of the government's Climate Change decarbonisation programme. The station had been generating electricity, using peat, since January 1965. In 2005 a new state of the art peat-fired plant was constructed on the site, at a cost of €240 million.

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