Latest News

Location

The Location Map provides more details of the site location.

Drombeg Solar Farm achieved full planning permission on 22nd May 2019 (Kerry County Council planning permission reference number 18/720 and An Bord Pleanála reference ABP-302681-18).

The substation element of the project achieved full planning permission on 30th March 2020 (An Bord Pleanála reference ABP-305106-19).

The project successfully cleared the RESS 2 auction in June 2022.

Drombeg Solar Farm will consist of rows of solar panels mounted on a typical galvanised metal framework. The panels face in a southerly direction with the highest point of the top of the panels up to 2.8m above ground level.

The solar panels will to be set back from the nearest residential dwellings on the north and northeast of the site to minimise visual impact. The position of the panels and set back distance has been carefully considered to allow the panels and proposed landscaping to blend into the existing landscape. A landscaping scheme will be implemented to screen the solar farm from neighbouring residences and roads, and to help embed it into the surrounding landscape.

Drombeg Solar Farm will connect to the electricity grid through a new 110kV substation on the solar farm site that will loop into an existing overhead line that traverses the site.

Community Benefits

• A Community Benefit Fund.
• Indirect employment through the sub-supply of services in the local area; and
• Rates paid by the solar farm to Kerry County Council will support the provision of local services.

Community Benefit Fund

The Drombeg Solar Farm project will have a Community Benefit Fund which will distribute grants to organisations in the local area once the solar farm is operational. The fund is to be used for the wider economic, environment, social and cultural wellbeing of the local community.

ESB has an independent dedicated administrator for Wind and Solar Farm Community Funds, and they are called SECAD. This is their application portal website: www.communitybenefitfunds.ie and there will be a help section on the site that communities may find helpful, including links to webinars. While the solar fund is not operational yet, we encourage you to start thinking about the kind of projects you might submit and the supporting information SECAD require.

Proposed Development Timeline

Construction of this project commenced in October 2022 with the construction of the access road and preparation of the substation site. This work was completed in the Summer of 2023. Work on the substation construction by our electrical contractor Kirby’s Group began in Autumn 2023. The proposed project timelines for the remainder of the project are:

Autumn 2023 – Spring 2025: Electrical Works duration

Summer 2024 – Spring 2025: Solar Panels installed on site

Summer 2025: Commissioning and project operational