Offaly "set to lead in green energy for years to come," says council chief

The new chief executive of Offaly County Council has described the county's status as a leader in green energy production as "exciting" but acknowledged there had been a reaction against certain projects in some local communities.

"We were the number one producer of green energy in the country in the months of January and March, and in the last six months we were in second or third place after Cork or Kerry, which are much bigger counties," said Eoghan Ryan.

"With what we have granted (via planning approval) already, we have double (the amount of green energy projects ) in the pipeline. So it's looking like we're going to be in the number one spot consistently, until perhaps offshore wind comes on board.

"That will be good for the rates base in the county, but we're trying to see how we can capitalise on that and covert it into longer-lasting, meaningful, legacy employment projects."

When asked whether the county was reaching a saturation point with green energy projects, he replied: "The county as a whole is relatively flat and can probably absorb them a bit better than other counties. And obviously we have the cutaway bogs, which have been a focus of a lot of the activity.

"I think there's a feeling, and certainly we're picking up sentiments in the council chamber from the elected members, that some communities are reacting (against) them.

"In some cases that's due to legitimate concerns around proximity to archaeological sites and monastic sites, that kind of cultural and religious heritage.

"It's something we're very cognisant of, and will take on board. We do not want to see, from one end of the county to the other, wall-to-wall wind turbines or solar farms or battery storage facilities."

He said there were large tracts of land in the east and west of the county that had been earmarked for development in Offaly's wind energy strategy.

In those areas, he added, the council was looking at providing "a peatland or nature corridor" through the windfarms to act as "a visual relief and a physical relief".

He mentioned that, at Derrinlough Wind Farm, BnM (formerly Bord na Mona) and the corporate giant Amazon had agreed a corporate power purchase agreement connected to the project.

"Amazon seem to be committed to the region and we'd be hopeful that we'd see some of their infrastructure and developments (in Offaly). There are signals that that could happen," he said.

Mr Ryan also said there would be benefits from Uisce Eireann's planned multi-billion euro water supply pipeline from the River Shannon to the Dublin area.

"That's going to be coming through the county, and will be providing potable water," he said.

"So I think there are some great positives there for employment going into the future, so and it's about trying to capitalise and maximise that."