Kilmoney 5MW Solar Farm is the first of near 20 investments ear-marked for County Cork by Amarenco over the next four years and Monday saw Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney turn the sod on the project.
The total investment will be €200m and the first €40m of solar farms are now in construction with four other plants underway at Mallow, Whitechurch, Inniscarra and Kanturk.
‘IMPORTANT BEGINNING’
At Monday’s event, Minister Coveney said that he was pleased to support the first solar farm of scale to be built in the county by Amarenco.
“Solar will play a significant part of Ireland’s renewable future. Through a combination of wind and solar, Ireland has the capacity to generate significantly more electricity than our own grid requires, by harnessing renewable resources.
“The future for renewables in Ireland is positive. Within the next decade Ireland will become a significant exporter of clean, green energy to the rest of Europe. Today is an important beginning.”
Amarenco, headquartered in Cork where they now employ 35, was established in 2013 and has already carried out more than 2,000 solar and solarised infrastructure projects and is the European leader in agrivoltaic infrastructure. The Amarenco Group, which is implementing the largest storage project in Continental Europe, is also bringing energy production and consumption closer together through the digital development of short circuits.
John Mullins, Executive Chairman of Amarenco stated, “It is a great honour to have Minister Coveney turn the sod on this project in his own back yard. This plant combined with Amarenco’s other investments in solar farms will assist the Irish energy sector reach its legally binding targets by 2030. These plants will bring clean renewable energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the State. Amarenco will be engaging in community supports with all communities where we construct solar farms.”
