Third solar farm in one Offaly parish given the go ahead with decision on fourth due soon

A third large solar farm in one parish in Offaly has been given the go ahead by Offaly County Council. The 170 acre farm will be in the Killyon, Rath and Fivealley areas of Drumcullen parish.

Summit Solar has been given permission to construct a 62 Megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) development divided over two different parcels of land, the first in the townland of Parkmore, close to Rath and Fivealley, and the second in Clonbeale Beg Glebe and Rathure, North of Killyon.

Planning permission was granted with 19 conditions attached including a payment of €744,000 in development contributions to Offaly County Council

It is the third solar farm granted planning permission in Drumcullen parish with a fourth even larger project currently going through the planning process. 

Planning was granted in March 2021 for 105,000 photovoltaic panels at Rathmount, Mullanafawnia and Russellspenn near the village of Rath.

Planning was granted for 122,904 photovoltaic panels at Ballindown, Bogderries, Ballywilliam and Ballynaguilsha in the parish in August 2021.

The fourth application from Harmony Solar is currently at the further information stage with Offaly County Council with a decision due later this month. If given the go ahead, it would see another 81 hectares of solar panels being installed between Rath and Kilcormac on three separate parcels of land. 

The 170 acre solar farm will be connected by underground cables to another already permitted 45MW solar development stretching over a further 111 acres in the Rathmount, Mullanafawnia, and Russellspenn townlands in the Rath and Killyon region. This 111 acre project, granted in 2020, will see 105,000 photovoltaic panels put in place. 

The Summit Solar 170 acre project was first submitted to the Council's planning office at the end of July 2022. It was then put on hold for a time while Offaly County Council sought a large amount of further information from the company before making a final decision.

The council asked questions about the site selection process, an assessment of any impact on archaeological remains and the height of the solar panels. Summit Solar said the panels will be a maximum height of 2.5 metres.

The farm will include 24 Power Hubs with an inverter and transformer, two single-storey communications building, sub-station building, storage premises, GRP kiosk and twelve CCTV cameras mounted on four metre high poles.

The farm will not require any permanent on-site staff following its construction.