Appeal Lodged Over €100M Solar Farm Near Punchestown

Friday, 19 August 2022 09:35

By Caoimhe Harney

Local residents who formed the Punchestown Area Community Group had strongly opposed the development.

A planning appeal has been lodged to An Bord Pleanála (ABP) over a €100 million solar farm near Punchestown, which was approved by the local council last month.

Over 100 people initially submitted objections to the solar farm, which is on a 129 hectare site outside Swordlestown.

The development proposes to build over 230,000 solar panels across the site and when completed would provide 125 megawatts of power to the grid, which could provide enough power for 20,500 homes in Kildare.

According to the developer the site itself would be in operation for 35 years, according to the developer.

Local residents who formed the Punchestown Area Community Group had strongly opposed the development.

The group claimed that the valuable landscape and amenity value in the Punchestown area would be lost.

Among the appellants were Friends of Swordlestown Little Stud (FSLS), a stud farm that it located in the immediate vicinity of the proposed solar farm.

Strategic Power Projects Limited, received planning permission for the project in late July after originally applying for the project in February.

In a statement the developer said: “This is the fifth renewable energy project approved for SPP in the Republic of Ireland since the announcement of our partnership with Gresham House in October last year.

“We are incredibly encouraged by the outcome of this planning decision.

"The deployment of Solar PV in Ireland Is urgently needed in order to meet its target for 80% renewable electricity on the network by 2030.

“Developments such as the proposed project are not only essential to achieving renewable energy goals, but also to achieving the wider goal of decarbonising the economy in Ireland in line with the coalition governments Climate Action Plan," it said.

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