The CEO of Irish PV association Solar Ireland, Ronan Power, told pv magazine that despite a healthy project pipeline and investor appetite, ground-mounted PV projects are not being delivered as fast as they could be. A national clearing house to provide more defined communication at the early stages would help developers deliver faster.
Image: Thomas Coker/Unsplash
Solar Ireland has called on the government to set up a national clearing house to act as a central coordination mechanism, liaising with key stakeholders such as government departments, planning authorities, developers and contractors, and grid operators to ensure all interests are aligned and solar power projects are not held up by a lack of clarity.
Solar Ireland’s CEO Ronan Power noted that Ireland has proven it can deliver renewable energy projects, adding that now is the right time to ramp up ambition and deliver more solar, faster.
“Ireland is making progress on solar development,” he told pv magazine. In April, solar generation from grid-scale parks surpassed 1 GW and the country’s total cumulative deployed solar capacity has surpassed 2.3 GW across all market segments.
“But the planning and grid system has not evolved at the same pace, and that is where the current bottlenecks are emerging,” said Power. “Planning timelines can be inconsistent across local authorities with different interpretations of requirements and limited visibility on decision timelines. Even where projects are well progressed, they can face delays linked to information requests, resourcing constraints, or other processes that could be run in parallel.”
Connection processes are another major constraint. “Projects are often dependent on batch-based connection rounds, which can introduce long lead times and uncertainty,” Power went on to say. “There are also challenges around coordination between planning and grid timelines where projects may secure one but remain delayed by the other. What this creates is a system where viable projects are not being rejected, but they are not moving forward at the pace required.”
While he acknowledged that a clearing house would not change standards or requirements, it would help speed up coordination and delivery. “It would bring together the relevant stakeholders to identify where projects are being delayed, provide consistent guidance, and resolve issues in real time,” said the CEO.
Solar Ireland’s view is that a clearing house would provide a structured way to identify issues early, resolve them quickly, and ensure that viable projects are not delayed unnecessarily.
“If we are serious about meeting our renewable energy targets, we need to focus on how projects move through the system, not just how they are approved,” said Power.
Solar Ireland is also asking the government to provide a longer-term strategic framework for solar, including defined targets beyond 2030.
Power said that a clear long-term strategy combined with a clearing house would provide structure and certainty for Ireland’s solar industry. “The capability is there. The projects are there. The demand is there. The focus must now be on enabling delivery at the speed and scale required,” he added.
Several Irish developers have recorded large investments and backing for their projects in recent months. Independent power producer (IPP) Power Capital Renewable Energy secured €260 million from the European Investment Bank for four new utility-scale projects across the country totaling 395 MW of clean energy.
In December 2025, German-headquartered IPP ILOS announced a portfolio of six projects with a combined capacity of 217 MW following €143 million ($168.4 million) in financing from Danske Bank and partners.
Norwegian renewables giant Statkraft accounts for 40% of Ireland’s total installed utility-scale PV capacity, having surpassed 500 MW in March with the connection of two large solar parks. It energized the 174 MW Clonfad park in Westmeath and the 32 MW Irishtown project near Dublin.
Kevin O’Donovan, Statkraft Ireland’s managing director said this was the energization of Clonfad and Irishtown means the company has now installed 560 MW of solar energy, all contributing to Ireland’s electricity grid.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
More articles from Blathnaid O’Dea
Please be mindful of our community standards.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *
Website
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.


Δ
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.
Legal Notice Terms and Conditions Data Privacy © pv magazine 2026
Δ
This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. View our privacy policy. ×
The cookie settings on this website are set to “allow cookies” to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click “Accept” below then you are consenting to this.
Close

source