SHANNON Airport is set to become home to Ireland’s first solar farm to be located within an airfield.
This follows Clare County Council granting planning permission to the Shannon Airport Group for the installation of a 1.2MW photovoltaic solar farm on a 5.5-acre site within the airfield at Shannon Airport.
When complete and operating at full capacity, the solar farm is intended to provide up to 15-20 per cent of the airport’s current electrical demand from renewable energy.
No objections were lodged against the proposal and Clare County Council granted planning permission after concluding it would not seriously injure the visual amenities of the area, the residential amenities of the area, or the ecology of the area, and would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and aircraft safety.
According to the Shannon Airport Group, the project will also provide for below-ground electrical infrastructure from the solar array in the airfield back to the main airport terminal building, enabling the energy generated to be used directly on site.
The sustainable use of existing land is one of the key projects included in the Group’s sustainability strategy, as it works towards its commitment of reaching its climate targets of a 51 per cent greenhouse gas reduction by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050.
Commenting on the permission, Chief Operating Officer at The Shannon Airport Group, Ray O’Driscoll, said the Group is “pleased to be progressing to the next stage with our plans for the development of a solar farm at Shannon Airport”.
“The strategic location of the solar farm within the airfield itself will allow the airport to decrease its reliance on energy from the national grid, decrease its use of fossil-fuels, and increase its capacity for on-site renewable electricity generation.
“As we work towards our commitment of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, further use of renewable energy will be essential, and we remain committed to investing in smart and innovative infrastructure to ensure we can meet our energy efficiency targets.”
The solar farm application is just one of five applications Shannon Airport Authority DAC has lodged in recent months with Clare County Council as the airport prepares for passenger numbers to exceed two million in 2024.
The planned solar farm site lies adjacent to the airport’s Taxiway 12 and an engineering report by TOBIN includes an area earmarked for potentially more solar farm development adjacent to the solar farm site which is a multiple in size of the initial 5.5-acre site.
A spokeswoman for the Shannon Group said that the capital expenditure for the projects “will be funded from our own resources”.
