Dairygold to power processing plants with renewable electricity

Dairygold has signed a corporate power purchase agreement with one of its farmer members which will see the processor power its plants by renewable energy.

The agreement between Dairygold and local grain supplier Michael Quirk will see Dairygold purchase 5,000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year of renewable solar energy from Lurrig Solar Farm, located on Michael’s farm in Aghada, Co Cork.

Quirk developed the solar farm on his farmland in 2022.

Dairygold interim chief executive Michael Harte said the agreement was the first of its kind in the industry and brings together a leading dairy co-operative with a farmer supplier to source locally produced renewable electricity for Dairygold’s world class dairy processing facilities.

“Pioneering developments like this represent important progress on the implementation of our sustainability strategy,” he said.

Central facet

On signing the agreement, Michael Quirk said: “As a family farmer and member of Dairygold Co-operative for more than four decades, both Rose and I are delighted to be involved in this groundbreaking agreement with our co-op.

“We are proud to be a part of Dairygold’s continuing sustainability journey. When we began farming here at Lurrig, the renewable energy industry did not exist, but today it is a central facet in all of our lives. We hope today’s announcement will serve as encouragement for farmers to embrace opportunities in this area.”

The agreement is just one of a number initiatives undertaken by Dairygold as part of its decarbonisation programme for its processing and transport operations.

Other recent programmes include the development of the decarbonisation roadmap for processing, the launch of the FarmGen Solar PV programme to Dairygold’s suppliers and the installation of solar PV at Dairygold’s Lombardstown Mill.