‘Single Largest’ Solar Farm Commissioned In Ireland

Irish solar PV installer Enerpower has commissioned what it calls Ireland’s ‘single largest’ solar farm with 5.6 MW capacity. The ground mounted project has come up on 16-acre space and will enable pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly to source a significant portion of energy sourced from the 5.6 MW Lilly Solar Power plant for its manufacturing operations at its Dunderrow site near Kinsale.

Eli Lilly will be able to reduce its annual use of electricity from carbon sources by close to 6 GWh annually and its carbon footprint by 2,350 tons.

Both Enerpower and Eli Lilly were joint partners for the 5.6 MW project that has been built for $5 million with 12,600 individual solar panels. It is supported by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Enerpower will continue to operate and maintain the plant.

The 5.6 MW project is likely to lose its ‘single largest’ status as a solar power plant in Ireland once Norway’s Statkraft brings online its much larger 200 MW PV Project in Ballymacarney, Meath County, expected sometime towards the end of 2022. On July 15, 2021, Statkraft said it has started construction on the facility which it won under Ireland’s 1^st Renewable Energy Support Scheme (REDD-1) (see Statkraft Acquires 320 MW Solar Portfolio In Ireland).

Ireland’s plans to install 12 GW renewable energy capacity under its Climate Action Plan is encouraging private sector investment here in the solar sector. In May 2021, Obton and Shannon Energy expanded their earlier commitment to install 500 MW solar capacity here, to say they will install 1 GW solar by 2026 for €750 million (see Obton & Shannon Energy Aim For 1 GW Solar In Ireland).

EDF Renewables is also developing 17 MW PV capacity in Ireland that’s due for completion in February 2022 (see EDF Renewables Planning To Build 3 Solar Farms In Ireland).