The billionaire owner of the Quinn Group has applied to An Bord Pleanala to build a 450 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine in County Louth.

Sean Quinn wants to add the 14-acre site at Toomes to his growing business empire.

The site is close to both a 220 kv connection to the national grid and to the N-S interconnector gas pipeline.

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A Quinn Group spokesman said there will be sufficient power to supply electricity for 230,000 homes - the equivalent of eight per cent of the national peak demand.

The application has been made to An Bord Pleanala because the project qualifies as a strategic infrastructural development under the Planning and Development Act.

The Quinn Group already has a number of wind farms around the country.

(JM)