Amarenco boss says company is ready to invest millions in Cork solar energy farms
HOWEVER, GOVT BLAMED FOR INITIATIVE BEING PUT ON HOLD
WITH decisions due next week on two separate planning applications for solar farms in Cork, the company behind an ambitious plan to build a network of similar facilities across Munster has said it is ready to invest more than €55 million into the project.
Should planners give the green light to the two proposals over the coming days, it will bring the number of approvals given to Amarenco Solar for farms in Munster. Seven of these are in Cork at sites in Kanturk, Castlelyons, Mallow, Whitechurch, Inniscarra, Carrigaline and Timoleague. The remaining site is in County Waterford.
A decision is due from planners on another solar farm at Currabeha, Croosktown next Tuesday, with a decision due the following week on a similar application by Amarenco on a site Ballinvarrig East, Deerpark, Castlelyons.
Ahead of these decisions the founder and CEO of Amarenco Solar, former Bord Gáis chief executive John Mullins, has said the company was ready to invest more than €55 million in the construction and operation of solar farms in Munster.
He was speaking after the company was given the green light for the 5 Mega Watt farm on the 22-acre site at Corrin/Kill-St-Anne North, Castlelyons that will incorporate 22,000 ground mounted photovoltaic panels.
He said that following the latest approval Amarenco Solar now had permission for farms that would generate a total of 40 MW of electricity, which will be fed back into the national grid.
Mr Mullins said that the company, which also has also invested in greenfield renewable energy projects in France and the UK, would be investing €7million in each of the facilities - equating to a combined total investment of €56 million.
“Once up and running, these solar plants combined will provide the equivalent of 9,000 three-bedroomed homes with clean, renewable solar energy,” said Mr Mullins.
He said that the total number of construction jobs created, based on successful applications to date, would be “in excess of 300”, with additional full-time operations roles once the solar farms are up and running.
Mr Mullins said that in addition to creating clean, renewable energy the solar farms, all of which will be situated on agricultural lands, will help farmers increase and diversify income by providing a stable source of revenue.
While Mr Mullins praised Cork County Council for having the vision to see solar power as a clean source of energy free from emissions, he once again said that Amarenco had been hampered in its plans by the governments seeming reluctance to embrace solar photovoltaic (PV) technology.
“We are ready to proceed to invest in these facilities. The government must realise that what we are proposing is not only positive for local communities, but also for Ireland as it looks to meet its binding renewable targets for the EU,” he said.
Mr Mullins had previously gone on record as saying that significant EU fines adding up to hundreds of millions of euro were now “inevitable” from 2020 due to the expected failure of Ireland to meet these targets.
“It is too late to bridge that gap in meeting these targets, but expeditious policy setting would allow these plants to be built and new jobs created,” said Mr Mullins.
“Unfortunately, while we have the funds and are ready to invest, our plans are on hold until the government commences to take solar PV seriously,” he concluded.