Blackwater solar farm proposal at 'advanced stage'

Plans by Bord na Móna to build a major solar farm on Blackwater Bog are at an advanced stage with the company on track to submit a planning application for the project to Offaly County Council before the end of this year.

As part of a pre-application consultation process which took place with An Bord Pleanála earlier this year, representatives from Bord na Móna and the ESB stated that environmental studies, including bird surveys, impact assessments and final designs are “nearing completion” and their expectation is “to submit a planning application before the end of 2023.”

The prospective applicants also confirmed that an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) will be required as part of the planning process due to the expectation that the thresholds for forestry felling and the construction of new internal roads will be exceeded in the development.

The proposed development at Blackwater Bog, approximately 6km southwest of Ballinahown and 6.5km west of Ferbane, would see the installation of rows of solar PV panels on mounted frames across a portion of the site to generate electricity.

An information booklet outlining the project says the size of the solar farm will depend on a number of different criteria that are currently being assessed, 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, 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 booklet adds. The solar farm would have a projected lifespan of 30 years.

Two Community Engagement Sessions took place last year – in Shannonbridge and Belmont – in relation to plans for the Blackwater Solar Farm. A dedicated website outlining full details of the project was established, along with the appointment of a Community Liaison Officer to deal with queries from the local community in the vicinity of the massive solar project.

While Blackwater Bog covers 5,700 acres, it is understood that the proposed solar farm would cover less than half the total area of the bog, in an area totalling approximately 2,666 acres.

The prospective applicants submitted a proposed site layout to An Bord Pleanala indicating where the solar farm would be located on Blackwater Bog. Their preferred option was developed following the undertaking of “a constraints analysis and EIA work” that identified the area most suitable for solar panels, according to the pre-application meeting report.

Bord na Móna recently sought a decision from An Bord Pleanála on whether plans 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.