PROOF THAT THE SUN REALLY IS SHINING ON NORTH CORK
THE CEO of Cork-based Amarenco Solar has said the company is ready to invest €70 million in the construction of solar farms across the county.
John Mullins was speaking after the company was granted planning permission for two more solar farms in Cork, bringing the number of facilities across Cork and Waterford given the green light into double figures.
The two latest additions are at Beal na Bláth and Ballinvarrig near Whitechurch. Each of these will contain approximately 22,000 ground-mounted photovoltaic cells with the capacity to generate a total of 50 mega watts of clean renewable energy, enough to generate power for up to 15,000 homes which will be fed back into the national grid.
Mr Mullins said that all of the proposed solar plants will be situated on farming lands.
“This will helps farmers increase and diversify income by providing a stable source of revenue and ensuring the viability of agriculture for decades to come. Sheep will also be farmed on all of the solar farms lands,” he said.
Mr Mullins said that the latest approvals by Cork County Council were among a “significant number” of applications being prepared by Amarenco for sites across the country.
“These facilities will help the government hit the EU 2020 renewable energy targets, which on the basis of current momentum will not be reached,” said Mr Mullins.
He pointed out that in 2015 the government published a white paper on energy designed to enable Ireland to meet its binding EU obligations for renewable energy.
“Unfortunately, we are no closer to meeting these, with Ireland currently meeting 9.5% of its binding renewable targets and it is expected to get to 16% by 2020. If these EU targets are not reached, the Irish taxpayer will be left paying very large annual bills from 2020 that will run into millions of Euro.”
He said the government needed to recognise the importance of solar power and follow the lead of other EU countries by publishing solar tariffs “sooner rather than later.”
“To date, Ireland is the only country in the European Union that does not have a policy towards solar, which is the fastest growing source of electricity in the world,” said Mr Mullins.
“It is important for the government to note the importance of solar facilities and their positive impact not only in Munster but across Ireland. The construction of these solar farms will boots the Irish economy through the generation of employment, benefit the agricultural sector and create a significant source of renewable energy,” he concluded.