A German energy company is planning to build what will be one of Ireland’s largest solar energy farms. An Irish subsidiary of JP Joule wants to construct the 190MW solar farm in Co Meath. It is likely it will cost in the region of 200 million euros. If it is granted planning permission it will be among the country’s biggest such developments. It could generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of up to 30,000 homes.
GP Joule wants to build the solar farm, which will be called Blackhall Solar Farm, on land located about 5km north-west of Maynooth, Co Kildare. The land is currently part-owned by individuals based in Co Waterford, Co Tipperary and Co Kildare, Solar farm development firms typically lease land from owners in order to develop their projects.
The proposed JP Joule site extends over three parcels of land and a total of 205 hectares. There are approximately 120 dwellings in relatively close proximity to the land. JP Joule wants 10-year permission for the project.
It has told Meath County Council in planning documents lodged just before last Christmas that the solar farm needs to have a lifespan of 40 years in order to attract appropriate funding.
“The project will provide a renewable electricity source for appropriately 30,000 average Irish homes and will displace approximately 80,000 tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions per annum,” according to planning documents lodged with the local council.
“The proposed development will be a reliable, benign, sustainable source of electricity generation energy, which is not dependent on the use of fossil fuels and will contribute to both local and national renewable energy targets.”
A planning firm acting for GP Joule has told the council that the project will contribute in the production of clean, renewable energy and bring Ireland “one step closer to having its own secure supply of electricity, reducing its reliance on volatile international markets and volatile energy pricing.”
“Such is the nature of the problem, that tackling climate change must be a key priority for the planning system,” a planning consultancy acting for GP Joule says in the company’s planning application.
“This does not mean that all other planning considerations are to be swept aside but it does mean that in weighing climate change against other considerations, tackling climate change is to be accorded substantial weight.” Renewable energy operators are building more large-scale solar farms in Ireland.
In 2021, Norway’s Statkraft began construction of the 200MW Ballmacarney solar farm, also in Co Meath. That project was set for completion last year. Statkraft Ireland is also working on a number of other solar and wind farm projects in Ireland. The country has a target of generating 80 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2030.
In the recent onshore Renewables Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auction, 20 solar farm projects totalling 497MW were awarded support. More onshore RESS auctions will be held this year.
Harmony Solar and the ESB’s solar farm development arm are planning to lodge an application this year for the construction of a major solar farm in Co Westmeath. The Kildallan Solar Farm will be built on 129 hectares of land about 10km from Mullingar, Co Westmeath. (The writer is our foreign correspondent based in the UK)
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