Kildare community unites again solar and battery plans

The rollout of large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) farms continues to accelerate across the country.

However, many communities are voicing concerns and mobilising to mount campaigns against these developments.

John Stack, from Kilcock, Co Kildare, is a member of one such group. The Solar Local Concerned Residents Group is opposed to a proposed 583ac solar farm and battery energy storage system (BESS) in Kildare.

We attended their most recent public meeting in Clane at the beginning of March, which was focused on raising awareness of the community’s concerns about the project and mobilising objections. The event was attended by around 80 people.

There were very real concerns in the room, and despite a public consultation process by the developer, many living in close proximity to the development knew little of the project until recently.

In conversation with the Irish Farmers Journal, committee member John explained that there was a mix of people in the room with different concerns — some against the BESS, some against taking farmland for solar and some close to the panels themselves.

The proposed project

Developers Elgin Energy ESI Ltd applied for planning permission to build the solar farm and BESS on 583ac of land in Kildare towards the end of January.

The project is located on farmland, 1km away from Kilcock, close to Tirmoghan and Rathcoffey. The solar farm would be 200 megawatts (MW) in size, one of the largest in the country, and would also include a 200MWh BESS.

By 2030, under Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, there must be 8,000 MW of installed solar PV capacity, much of which will come from solar farms. Four landowners are involved, with the project proposed to cover 35 fields. Elgin states that sheep will graze the site once operational.

The planning is being sought for 10 years, and once built, it would operate for 40 years. The project also includes 102 inverter stations, new access tracks, underground cabling, and perimeter fencing with 85 CCTV cameras and 160 BESS units. The application was submitted with a fee of €61,275, and a decision is due on 27 March.

Community consultation

Elgin Energy ESI Ltd carried out a community consultation about the proposed project last year.

This included holding a public consultation event, distributing information leaflets before and after the event, a newspaper advertisement, information boards at the event, producing an information booklet, and taking feedback on the project (emails and forms).

The developers have stated that they discussed how BESS and solar PV technology can make a significant contribution to Ireland’s net-zero carbon emissions targets.

They also shared a basic analysis of the archaeological, ecological, landscape and visual, noise, flood risk and access conditions at the application site and the surrounding area.

Advertisements were published in the Daily Star newspaper on 3 December 2024 to provide notice of the event. The public consultation event was held the next day, 4 December 2024, at the Kilcock community hall from 3pm to 6.30pm. Approximately 43 people attended the event.

Concerns

The concerns in the room were many. John explained that in some cases, the solar panels will be as little as 25 metres away from their houses, and there is concern about the intrusiveness of the development and the impact on their property value. The risk of glint and glare was also raised.

The groups also raised concerns about the money going out of the local economy from the loss of farmland, and they were unaware of any details of a community benefit fund from the solar farm. John explained that for the four farmers leasing the land, however, it was not personal, and they won’t fall out over it, but the best-case scenario is that the project doesn’t happen.

Some attendees were worried about the volume of traffic the construction of the solar farm would generate, expected to be a maximum of 25 daily HGV deliveries during the peak construction period. During the anticipated 12-month construction period, a total of 3,085 HGV deliveries will be made to the site. This drops to between 10 and 15 light goods vehicles (LGVs) per year during the operational phase.

BESS regulations

However, the main concerns highlighted on the night centred on the BESS component of the solar farm. BESS are essentially giant batteries, which can store power from the solar farm or the national grid and release it when it’s needed.

However, attendees at the meeting heard that there are apparent gaps in regulations that govern the development and operation of these systems. Husband and wife, Hugh and Eleanor Dillon, spoke at the event and outlined the perceived risks with these developments. They have experience opposing BESS projects, as one was planned close to their own home in Kilkenny.

Their concerns included the risk of thermal runaway, where a battery cell overheats uncontrollably, leading to fire or explosion. If unchecked, this can cause catastrophic failures in lithium-ion batteries. Over 90 such failures have occurred worldwide, said Hugh, and he claimed that one in every 11m batteries might spontaneously combust. Once a large-scale system catches fire, only water can control it, contaminating that water, he said. He then cited a thermal runaway event at Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California in January 2025 that led to the evacuation of 1,500 residents.

They argue that there is a lack of sufficient BESS fire safety regulations and emergency response plans for significant fires for these projects. Hugh mentioned that safety and environmental bodies like the Health and Safety Authority, National Standards Authority of Ireland, and Environmental Protection Agency stated to him that they have no role in grid-scale battery safety.

Political attendance

The meeting was well attended by local councillors and TDs. Newly elected Naoise Ó Cearúil of Fianna Fáil said that he will bring up a question in the Dáil about which body is responsible for BESS and will meet with the committee on it again.

Fine Gael’s Joe Neville TD gave instructions to the room on how to make an objection to the project stand out, saying to not just copy and paste the same objections, but rather individualise them.

Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly was also in attendance, as were councillors Tim and William Durkan (Fine Gael), Pauric McEvoy (independent) and Daragh Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil). Fine Gael councillor Tim Durkan also gave instructions on exactly what to say for the objection to stand out and be taken seriously.

Mobilising objections

The committee had prepared objections for attendees to take home and personalise for their own submissions. They were also collecting signatures and funds to submit a signed objection on behalf of the attendees.

The committee reiterated that they will need expert input to fight this application in An Bord Pleanála and that they will require donations from the community to do so.

The meeting was held three days before the deadline for objections and submissions. In total, the application received nearly 100 submissions, the majority of which were objections. A number of submissions were redacted. Joe Neville TD, councillor Tim Durkan, councillor William Durkan, and councillor Pádraig McEvoy all made submissions.

A representative from Elgin Energy was not invited to attend the meeting. It is important to note that many of the concerns raised by the group are addressed in the company’s comprehensive planning application.

For example, the company states that when mitigation measures are in place, just four residential locations will be at low risk of glint and glare from the solar farm. The Irish Farmers Journal reached out to Elgin for a response to the group’s concerns, but at the time of going to print, we had not received a response. Kildare County Council will decide on the project by the end of the month.