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Ireland has energized its first solar farm under the government’s Small-Scale Renewable Energy Support Scheme, according to pv magazine. The scheme, known as SRESS, backs projects generating between 50 kW and 6 MW of electricity.
The 650 kW Meadhill Solar farm in County Cork was developed by Cork farmer Sean Keating and leaves room for sheep to graze around and beneath the panels. The installation produces enough electricity to supply roughly 150 homes nearby and gives Keating a revenue stream; he started working on the project in 2017.
Keating has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Flogas, a DCC Energy-owned business listed on the London Stock Exchange. Flogas is looking for other farmers, landowners and small enterprises interested in exploring such agreements.
Ken OByrne, managing director of Flogas, told pv magazine that he sees ample opportunity for more power purchase agreements under SRESS and noted that substantial capacity remains to be allocated to facilities under the scheme. In his view, the main gains for farmers and communities are diversified revenue and a positive carbon reduction effect on the national electricity grid. He pointed to the Meadhill project as an example of what can be achieved on a small parcel of land.
OByrne added that small-scale energy projects led by farmers and communities may mark the start of a broader wave, sitting between domestic rooftop solar and large utility-scale deployment. He said such projects can draw on established supply chains and proven solar technology while remaining unobtrusive to farms and communities, describing the use of photovoltaic technology as a new way to harvest solar energy.
Irish company PV Generation Ltd., known as PVGEN, handled installation and supported Keating through the development phase. Edward Carbery, the company’s group marketing lead, told pv magazine that PVGEN was involved from the early stages and part-funded the project.
Carbery said the client had already secured planning permission and a grid connection before PVGEN joined, while the company completed numerous design iterations during pricing and provided production models the client used to seek bank funding. PVGEN carried out the electrical installation, commissioning and testing of more than 1,000 panels at the site, arranged testing of ground conditions, and had the mounting array designed and procured from Turkey. It also coordinated with the Irish distribution systems operator to ensure the design met the grid connection agreement and supplied the EGIP protection panel and the low-voltage distribution board.
Carbery said PVGEN is seeing considerable interest in microgeneration solar from farmers and landowners, who increasingly view it as a way to diversify income. He attributed especially strong farmer interest in solar projects to the energy crisis and recent rises in electricity and diesel prices.
Beyond SRESS, the Irish government supports renewable generation through solar PV grants for rooftop solar on farm buildings under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme, or TAMS.
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