Plans lodged for 137-acre solar farm in North Cork

Plans have been lodged for a 137-acre solar farm beside the route of the proposed M20 Cork–Limerick motorway, adding to a growing cluster of renewable energy developments around Charleville.

Soleire Renewables Holdings Ltd is seeking permission from Cork County Council

Cork County Council for Madigan’s Solar Farm, a 55.55-hectare (137-acre), 49MW development spread across two parcels of land in the townlands of Castleharrison, Ardnageehy and Ballynadrideen, about 4km south of Charleville.

The project would comprise around 77,600 solar panels and operate for 40 years.

The development is designed around the proposed M20 motorway corridor, with the two sections of the solar farm to sit on either side of the planned route.

They would be linked by an underground electricity cable running beneath the future motorway and the L5529 local road. Planning documents also show a proposed 10m-wide tree belt along both sides of the safeguarded motorway corridor as part of the first phase of the project.

At 55.55 hectares and 49MW, Madigan’s would be larger than the nearby 42.6-hectare Coolcaum Solar Farm but smaller than the 93-hectare Ardnageehy Solar Farm and the 103-hectare, 120MW Ballyroe Solar Farm, both of which are also located in the Charleville area.

Elsewhere in Cork, permission has also been granted for the 161-hectare Aglish Solar Farm near Macroom.

The proposal would further cement the Charleville area as one of Ireland’s largest concentrations of utility-scale solar energy projects. Soleire already has consent for the neighbouring Ardnageehy Solar Farm, as well as projects at Ballyroe, Coolcaum and Fiddane, all feeding into the Ballyroe 110kV substation.

Planning documents state the development will be built in two phases over the 10-year permission period. Cork County Council is due to decide the application in August.