Google and Italian CO₂ battery manufacturer Energy Dome have announced plans for a commercial energy storage facility in County Offaly, Ireland.
The site will feature a 23MW/200MWh “CO2 Battery” system and is being developed under a partnership formed between the two companies last year.
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The project marks the first bilateral commercial contract for the CO2 Battery technology between Google and Energy Dome.
Google Ireland head Vanessa Hartley said: “At Google, we are committed to catalysing next-generation energy technologies to bolster grid resilience and introduce critical storage capacity to the system.
“This milestone is a next step in our long-term partnership with Energy Dome, and will help scale their promising long-duration energy storage technology, charging ahead to an affordable, secure and clean energy future.”
Energy Dome will develop, own and operate the storage plant, which uses compressed carbon dioxide to store and then release electricity to the grid. The technology operates by compressing CO₂ using grid power and storing it.
When electricity is needed, the CO₂ is expanded through a turbine to produce energy that is then supplied back to the grid.
The location of the new facility, near the town of Rhode in County Offaly, sits on a node of the Irish electric grid connected to high-voltage lines serving the Dublin area.
The project is situated on the site of a former peat-fired thermal power station and will repurpose the brownfield land for clean energy use.
The development is taking place in collaboration with Lumcloon Energy, a local company based in the Midlands.
Energy Dome stated that the initiative will bring job opportunities and wider community benefits.
The Irish government has identified long-duration energy storage (LDES) as important for maintaining electricity supply security, reducing system costs and supporting the national goal of reaching 80% renewable electricity by the end of this decade.
The CO2 Battery project aims to better manage the country’s renewable energy by storing surplus power and releasing it during periods of high demand or grid stress, helping to relieve congestion on the local network.
Energy Dome founder and CEO Claudio Spadacini said: “We are proud to work with Google on a project that strengthens grid resilience and unlocks the path to 24/7 carbon-free energy in Ireland.
“This project is the first commercial bilateral deployment under the strategic partnership between our companies, which aims to develop CO2 Battery projects across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.”
The County Offaly site has planning consent, land rights and a grid connection in place. A ten-year capacity contract has been awarded by EirGrid, the state-owned transmission system operator.
The project is expected to start operating in 2028, with a second 200MWh unit also planned at the location.
