Plans for 600 acre solar farm within 7kms of Portarlington and Portlaoise appealed

Plans for a solar farm covering over 600 acres have been appealed to  An Coimisiún Pleanála.  

Ørsted Onshore Ireland Midco Limited was granted planning permission for the 249 hectare or 615 acres solar farm across the townlands of  Morett, Killone, Cappakeel, Rossmore and Raheennahown north.

Last month Laois County Council granted permission for 40 years of operation, subject to 18 conditions, despite not knowing exactly how much electricity it would generate. 

Ørsted informed the Council that due to variables in solar conditions and technology, they were unable to give planners an exact figure of how much power would be generated by the large solar farm. It is to be built on five parcels of land belonging to 13 consenting landowners. 

The planning application for 1,796,838 square metres of solar photovoltaic panels on ground mounted steel frames; 44 hardstandings for electrical skids and storage; underground power and communication cables and ducts and 22,753m of boundary security fencing was accompanied by Natura Impact Statement(NIS). 

The planning application attracted 82 submissions, including submissions from Independent TD Brian Stanley and Independent Laois Councillors Aisling Moran and Aidan Mullins. 

The solar farm is to be located within three kilometres from Ballybrittas, Emo and Vicarstown and less than seven kilometres from Portlaoise and Portarlington.   

According to documents lodged with the application, the solar farm would take 18 months to construct across the five parcels of land. 

The 82 submissions raised concerns about the lack of national policy or guidelines around solar farms, the lack of consultation, environmental issues, water, traffic, displacement of wildlife, light pollution, visual impact and the likelihood of glare and glint from the project.  

A planner for Laois County Council noted “a total of 94 dwellings were examined, and the assessment identified that glint and glare is geometrically possible at 84 of these.”

However, he stated that the overall impact on dwellings incurring glint and glare effects is only 17% of the dwellings examined once mitigating measures were in place. 

Although it’s unlikely to be any consolation to the impacted homeowners, the planner stated that, “based on the 2022 census, the housing stock in the County in April 2022 was 34,443. Therefore the number of properties impacted by glint and glare from this development represents just 0.05% of the total housing stock of the County.”

The planner noted that the impact on the Emo Court Demesne and the Rock of Dunamase was deemed as “imperceptible”. 

The plan has been appealed to  An Coimisiún Pleanála by John Nerney, David Hainsworth and others, Tom and Claire Milner, Damien McCarthy and Shane and Ailish Mooney. 

In his objection to Laois County Council, Mr Hainsworth expressed concern on a number of grounds including the scale of the development, the visual impact, the impact on water quality, the traffic impact and what he said were discrepancies in the application. Shane Mooney said the development “wraps around” his home and he shared many of those concerns highlighted by Mr Hainsworth. He also questioned the level of regulation around solar farm development.

In his submission, John Nerney said:  “As a General Practitioner working locally my main concern would be for the health, wellbeing and safety of the area’s human residents during the construction, operation and decommissioning of this planned industrial area.”

Dr Nereny said he had concerns about the potential impact to air and water quality, wildlife and the traffic such a development would generate. 

“There does not currently appear to be local or national guidance on solar energy and I feel this is inappropriate. I am not against renewable energy. However, I do feel it needs to be planned appropriately with human factors, flora and fauna plus environmental concerns being accounted for in a consistent and safe manner in our national guidelines,” he stated. 

An Coimisiún Pleanála has yet to announce when a decision will be made on the planning application.

An associated planning application is being made to An Coimisiún Pleanála as part of a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID). It will include the provision of a 110kV substation with electrical control building and ancillary electrical infrastructure, associated compound with palisade fence.