Solar farm plans revealed for Offaly/Westmeath border

A well-known renewable energy company has mooted plans to develop a major solar farm straddling the Offaly/Westmeath border.

Elgin Energy Services Ltd intends to apply for planning approval for a site at Lurgan, Moate in Offaly, a new planning notice has revealed, on a site encompassing over 23 hectares which is in excess of 56 acres in total.

While the number of solar panels is not listed in the notice published on Friday (December 16), it does specify that permission is sought for a period of ten years to construct and complete the solar farm development, on 21.8 hectares of land on the Offaly side of border, while the remaining 1.8 hectares is across the boundary into Westmeath at Culleenagower, Moate.

The project would include PV panels mounted on metal frames, new access tracks, underground cabling, perimeter fencing and CCTV cameras. In addition, there would be 14 inverter stations, a temporary construction compound, a client substation and all ancillary grid infrastructure and associated works.

The solar farm would be operational 40 years should it be approved, the planning notice also indicated.

While the vast majority of the site is located at Lurgan in Offaly (21.6 hectares), the site also includes 1.8 hectares across the border in Westmeath, which is subject to a concurrent application submitted to Westmeath County Council, the notice added.

The proposed PV panels, new access tracks, CCTV cameras and 14 inverter stations would be located in the townland of Lurgan, Moate in Offaly, and the remaining 1.8 hectares would be home to a temporary construction compound, associated access and client substation at Culleenagower, Moate in Westmeath.

A Natura Impact Statement will be submitted with the application.

Founded in 2009, Elgin Energy Services Ltd is a leading international solar and storage development company in Ireland, the UK and Australia. It boasts a 98% success rate in planning applications, the company website stated, and as of 2022 it has successfully obtained planning permission for 1GW+ across more than 60 projects. A gigawatt (GW) is the equivalent to one billion watts of power and is enough energy to power around 750,000 homes.

A further 120 projects are at late stages of development across the UK, Ireland and Australia totalling 6GW solar + 3GW storage.

The Dublin-based company has already delivered operational solar farms in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with an output of more than 230 megawatts (MW) of power.

Elgin Energy Services has been contacted for comment on the new plans for a local solar farm on the Offaly/Westmeath border.