Planning bid for one of country's largest solar farms due soon

Bord na Móna is expected to seek planning permission in the coming weeks for one of the largest solar farms in the country, on Blackwater Bog, which is located in West Offaly.

The proposed development comprises a c160MW solar farm on approximately 400 hectares of Blackwater Bog. It is also intended to construct a 110KV onsite substation which will connect, via 2.5km of underground cable, to the national grid at the existing 110KV ESB Networks at West Offaly Power Station for the proposed development.

The proposed solar farm will include approximately 24km of internal road network, approximately 3.5kms of which is intended for amenity use when the solar farm becomes operational. An additional 2.5km of dedicated amenity pathway and associated carparks is also proposed.

The proposed project, on a site which is approximately 6km southwest of Ballinahown and 6.5km west of Ferbane, would see the installation of rows of solar PV panels on mounted frames for the generation of electricity.

Two Community Engagement Sessions have already taken place on the huge project - in Shannonbridge and Belmont – and a dedicated website outlining full details of the project has also been established (www.blackwatersolarfarm.ie).

Bord na Móna also appointed a Community Liaison Officer to deal with queries from the local community in the vicinity of the massive solar project..

A detailed information booklet was published by Bord na Móna setting out full details of what is being planned for Blackwater Bog, and it states that the size of the solar farm will depend on a number of different criteria, including spacing between the panels, the slope of the landscape, proposed height of the arrays, and the rating (in watts) of each panel.

As a general guide, the booket outlines that one megawatt (MW) of Solar PV panels will typically require a net area of 2 hectares but this “can vary between 1.6 and 2.2 hectares.” The information booklet also states that the proposed solar farm would have “a projected lifespan of 30 years.”

As part of the plans for Blackwater Bog, Bord na Móna sought a decision from An Bord Pleanála on whether the proposal to construct a 110kV electrical substation and grid connection at Blackwater Bog constituted Strategic Infrastructural Development (SID), and therefore necessitated the sending of a planning application directly to the planning board.

Following three pre-application consultation meetings and the preparation of an Inspector’s Report, An Bord Pleanala ruled that the application for an electrical substation and grid connection at Blackwater Bog “falls within the scope” of section 182A of the Planning and Development Act 2000, and that a planning application “should be made directly to the Board.”

The Inspector’s Report stated that he was satisfied that the proposed 110kV substation and 110kV cable connection from the proposed solar farm to the existing Shannonbridge substation which connects directly into the grid constitutes an SID.