Two more Cork solar farms given green light
THE decision to grant Amarenco Solar planning permission for two more solar farms in Cork now brings to nine the number of facilities planned by the company across the county to have been given the green light.
The two latest additions at Ballivarrig East, Deerpark, Castlelyons and Currabeha, Crookstown, means that the Cork-based company has permission for sites capable of generating 45 megawatts of electricity.
The electricity, which will be fed back into the national grid, will be enough to power more than 10,000 homes with clean, renewable solar energy.
The Castlelyons and Crookstown facilities will each consist of 22,000 photovoltaic (PV) panels, each with the capacity to generate five mega-watts of electricity.
The granting of permission for the Castlelyons farm comes almost a year to the day that an application for a similar facility on the same 8.5 hectare site was refused by council planners.
At the time they expressed concerns that access to the private road leading into the site at a junction with a busy local road was “poorly aligned” and a point where “sight-lines are restricted in both directions”.
“The planning authority is not satisfied on the basis of submissions made that the traffic likely to be generated by the proposed development would not endanger public safety by reason traffic hazard,” ruled planners.
In granting permission for the revised application at the Castlelyons site, planners stipulated 20 conditions that must be adhered to by Amarenco Solar.
They deal largely with issues such as traffic safety, the protection of local wildlife and fauna, noise emissions, water quality and archaeological preservation.
Planners also stipulated that the all structures be removed not later that 25-year after commissioning unless planning permission has been granted for its retention. They further stipulated that site development and buildings works could only be undertaken between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 2pm on Saturday’s and only on Sunday’s and bank-holidays with prior approval from the council.
In relation to the Crookstown solar farm, planners stipulated 22 conditions with the granting of permission, which broadly mirrored those of the Castlelyons facility with a couple of notable exceptions.
These included the payment a special contribution to the council of €4,475.25 improvement works to nearby public roads not covered under its General Contribution’s Scheme. Amarenco was also ordered to lodge a security of €10,000 to guarantee the maintenance of public roads during the construction phase of the project.