Solar Farm Development Update

Solar Farms are an essential component in Ireland’s Climate Action Plan.

According to the prevailing zeitgeist they are essential to our future survival – and the decarbonisation of our electricity grid.

Therefore it’s critically important that we do everything possible to facilitate the development of Ireland’s solar industry and to improve technical competence to a level where these assets can perform as required.

Here’s a brief update on how many Solar Farms are currently licenced in Ireland, and how many more we might need in the next seven years.

Solar farm in Ireland – Image (c) Solar Now

Authorisations to Date – 1.6 Gigawatts

In the latest update from the CRU, there are 483 authorisations issued to generate power in Ireland.

This covers a total authorised power generation capacity of 14.7 GW, which includes all forms of power production and also battery storage projects.

For Solar Power Generation assets the headline number is ~ 1.6 GW of authorised generation … thats almost 11% of output, comprised of 67 licenced projects.

Right now, these numbers are just pieces of paper – not actual generation capacity. Some projects also have multiple authorisations associated with them.

Even so, 1.6 GW is a modest number, a long way from the 8 GW of solar power for which the grid is being prepared, and further yet from the actual amount we will require post 2030.

More important than the headline number is HOW these assets are being built, and whether the finished assets will meet our needs. In addition to meeting development targets, the outcome should serve the need to produce usable electricity when and where it’s required.

It’s a technical question, and since we have seen quite a number of these utility-scale solar developments first-hand we are obliged to observe that the results can be SERIOUSLY FLAWED.

Solar developments that fail to meet an existing need may end up being throttled back, or even switched off at times.

If you are interested to build a solar farm, you should talk to a solar engineer first!

Or fill out the following form to contact Solar Now.

Licenced to Build Solar

Of the solar farm developments currently licenced to generate electricity in Ireland, almost 1.5 GW of the 1.6 GW has been licenced to just four companies including the ESB. This 1.5 GW capacity is filled by only sixteen large projects most of which exceed 100 MW of peak power.

For comparison, the entire rooftop solar MSS grant scheme launched by the government about a year ago is equalled by just three of these large solar projects. It’s a good indication of how the current government – and all of their climate advisors – view solar energy.

For the remaining 100 MW of 1.6 GW of solar farms currently authorised, there are four further players, with very few smaller operators or community projects currently in the market.

It’s probably fair to say that most of the capacity has already commenced construction; while the majority of projects licenced to generate solar electricity have not yet commenced construction phase.

Effectively, Ireland’s entire climate action plan relating to solar energy – is in the hands of four companies.

Fingers crossed!

Authorised solar farm development in Ireland – Image (c) Solar Now

Reality Check for Solar Developers

We see a lot of solar farm locations.

In assessing each location for development there is a rigorous set of procedures that should be followed.

Therefore we should make some observations on the current state of Ireland’s solar ambitions. There is a theme among solar developments, where BASIC ERRORS are evident, indicating a significant lack of training and knowledge in this field.

Basic errors can and will have detrimental impacts on the expected outcomes from solar parks currently authorised and licenced.

How long it takes for developers to figure out their paycheck has been slashed is anyone’s guess. This is the result when accountants and lawyers build solar farms for “renewables” companies.

For us, as customers and end-users, it means the DNO has less faith in solar technology than they should. For the country as a whole it means that our 1.6 Gigawatts of authorised solar generation may in reality be closer to 800 Megawatts.

In the end some other company, is going to build out a new solar asset somwhere else to replace all of the underperforming, badly designed solar assets that are currently being progressed.

Largest Solar Companies in Ireland

The largest solar companies in Ireland are currently Highfield Solar, Statkraft, Power Capital Renewable Energy and the ESB.

There are a number of other companies with increasing numbers of licenced projects like EDF Renewables and Neoen International, and yet more companies with fewer or smaller projects.

This is an industry which is critical to our future development and yet very much in it’s infancy.

Very many opportunities are still required and given the key points highlighted in this article we may yet see the 8 GW of announced capacity for solar projects increase to 16 GW of solar projects out to 2030 and towards the key milestone year of 2050.

It appears to be inevitable.

Contact Solar Now today to begin your next project.