An Bord Pleanála is considering the case of a proposed 143MW solar farm in Galway County and is due to return a decision by early summer.

Harmony Solar is seeking planning permission for a solar farm on 125 hectares of land within the townlands of Carrowgarriff North, Cloghboley, Drumharsna North, Drumharsna South, Killeenhugh, Keamsellagh East and Parkatleva.

The developer is seeking a 10 year planning permission for a solar farm which would have an operational lifespan of 40 years.

The development would consist of 570,952m2 of ground-mounted solar modules, the installation of 18 hardstanding locations, each with three electrical skids, and site works including internal access tracks and entrances.

Galway County Council refused planning for the solar farm on environmental, heritage, infrastructure, and viability grounds.

The decision stated that there are 14 locations on the Record of Monuments and Places within the development site, and no geophysical surveying of the area had been carried out.

The county council also stated that the road network was inadequate for the increased traffic the development would bring, and that not enough information was provided to show that the development would not impact on protected habitats.

The final reason for the refusal was that no estimation of the “potential megawatts of energy” which would be created by the solar farm had been provided. 

Without this, the council could not determine if the value of the development outweighed the loss of agricultural land.

Harmony Solar appealed this decision to An Bord Pleanála submitting updated information, including an 143MW estimate of the potential output of the solar farm.

The appeal also includes a Road Safety Audit on the surrounding roads, states that geophysical surveying is being carried out and that a 5m buffer would be in place around any monuments

Harmony Solar also states that 96% of the agricultural land which makes up this application is used for grazing, and that much of this would continue to be in use while the solar farm is in situ.

The case was originally due to be decided by the start of January, but An Bord Pleanála said that this was not possible due to a major backlog of cases. A new deadline of May 8 for a decision has now been set for a decision on this appeal.