Two information events this month on major solar farm plan

Bord na Móna and the ESB will hold two Community Engagement Sessions over the next week in relation to plans for the so-called Blackwater Solar Farm in West Offaly, close to the Westmeath and Roscommon border. The events are set for Shannonbridge Community Hall on Tuesday, March 8 from 5pm to 8pm, and on Wednesday, March 9 from 5pm to 8pm in High Street Hall, Belmont.

Parts of Blackwater Bog, just a kilometre from Clonmacnoise and Shannonbridge, could become home to a substantial solar farm in the future, it was revealed just last month.

Bord na Móna and ESB indicated their intention to submit a planning application in 2023 for a new solar farm on the 5,700-acre Blackwater Bog.

However, the study area being examined for this development covers less than half of the bog consisting of approximately 1,079 hectares or 2,666 acres, Blackwater Bog was synonymous with the production of milled peat for decades for power generation at the now-closed West Offaly Power station.

The proposed development at Blackwater Bog, only 6km southwest of Ballinahown and approximately 6.5km west of Ferbane, would see the installation of rows of solar PV panels on mounted frames across a portion of the site to generate electricity.

An information booklet outlining the project says the size of the solar farm will depend on a number of different criteria that are currently being assessed, for example, spacing between the panels, the slope of the landscape, proposed height of the arrays, and the rating (in watts) of each panel.

As a general guide, one megawatt (MW) of Solar PV panels will typically require a net area of 2 hectares but this can vary between 1.6 and 2.2 hectares, the booklet adds. The solar farm would have a projected lifespan of 30 years.