Application lodged for solar farm stradling Laois Kildare border

A planning application has been lodged for a large solar farm which straddles the Laois Kildare border. 

BNRG Bracklone Ltd has lodged a planning application with Laois County Council for the 60 hectare(149acre) solar farm located in Kilmullen, Ullard or Controversyland, Clonanny, Lea and Loughmansland Glebe, Portarlington and on land in Coolnafearagh in neighbouring Co Kildare. 

In total, 22.7 hectares of the 32MW solar farm would be located near Portarlington in Co Laois with the remainder in Co Kildare.  In Laois, part of the proposed site surrounds the historic Kilmullen House. 

Picture Credit: BNRG Bracklone

According to BNRG, the solar farm will produce enough electricity to power 6,000 homes. They  plan to establish a Community Benefit Fund, which is expected to contribute €800,000 to the community over 15 years.

They said the local community will be invited to participate and give views on how the fund will be invested  

BNRG said the ground mounted PV solar panels would require two single storey inverter stations, a co-located Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with 16 containers with cells and four containers with inverters and associated security fencing and gates. 

The developer is seeking permission for the linear arrays of ground mounted panels which have an average height of three metres. They estimate the project should take 12 months to construct and will require a temporary construction compound with material storage area, car parking and offices. 

Permission is being sought for a period of 10 years with an operational period of 40 years. The total capacity of Solar PV on the site is estimated to be 32 MW. A Natura Impact Statement (NIS) has been submitted with this application.

Laois County Council is expected to decide on the planning application by November 17.