Dogged by delays - work finally progressing on Offaly solar farm

FOLLOWING an 8 year delay, work is finally underway on the construction of a solar farm in Clara.

The development which is located at Lahinch has been dogged by numerous hold ups which has caused massive frustration to the developers and owners of the land.

''There have been so many delays. It's been one step forward and two steps backwards, '' said David Connor who owns the land where the solar farm will be located.

''There were delays with planning, but they weren't the worst. There was the ESB and we had terrible delays with archaeologists, they were a pure nightmare. They were so unhelpful and impractical.''

David said the archaeologists became involved because when he and his wife Stephanie built their house 45 years ago they came across a bronze age burial site. ''It was investigated at the time but there was no more about it,'' added David.

''When Offaly County Council first granted permission they were helpful but the ESB and Eirgrid changed the route for the power to the ESB power station and a new planning application went in. There was a change to the criteria and Offaly County Council said there would have to be an archaeological survey carried out on the land. The Monuments Section in Dublin then became involved, they did all sorts of surveys and digs. They had to be onsite while the diggers were digging little trenches.''

David said the Danish company OBTON who are behind the development of the solar farm had to foot the bill for archaeological digs.

''They found a bit of a clay pipe and a bit of a plough which was probably from my father's plough 40 years ago. Nothing of value.'' said David.

However, things are now progressing on the land and David and his wife Stephanie are delighted.

''There are over 30 men, mostly German, working on the solar farm.  They never complain about the rain which has been sometimes ferocious. The position is they have all the trenching done and have put cables underground to carry to the ESB substation. Most of the uprights which will carry the solar panels are done and some of the solar panels are up,'' added David.

David said he believes that the farm will contain 10,000 solar panels and it will be enough to power 1,700 homes.

''As far as I am aware it is the first one being built in Offaly. There are a lot in the pipeline. There are some in Kildare and Meath.

David expects the solar farm to be completed in January but he stressed that it depends on the weather.

In January 2020 OBTON announced details of its €300m investment in the Irish solar energy sector. Along with its Irish partner Shannon Energy, the company said it would develop up to 500 MW of solar PV projects in Ireland over the next five years. ''This represents an investment in the Irish economy of over €300m at today’s energy prices and will create over 1,000 jobs particularly during its construction phase,'' a statement from the company said.

Below some of the solar panels are up at Lahinch