Solar plan to power 150,000 homes

ESB and Bord na Móna have announced a deal to develop four solar farms across the Midlands to power 150,000 homes.

The joint venture will see solar panels being introduced in four remote areas of bogland in parts of Roscommon, Kildare, and Offaly in a €500m investment. They will cover about 2,500 acres, amounting to around 1% of Bord na Móna’s total landbank.

Planning permission has yet to be secured for the project, which will require around two years of front-end engineering and planning work to be carried out before an expected rollout date in 2019.