Kilkenny solar farm requests more time to complete large development

Plans to develop a large solar farm adjacent to a busy road in county Kilkenny are back on the table after the developers requested more time to complete the project.

Wexford Solar Farms have requested from Kilkenny County Council an extension to their planning permission to build the 4MW solar farm at Curraghmartin, Carrigeen.

The site, just of the N24 Waterford-Limerick primary route comprises eight hectares of land on both sides of the road just south of the Roadstone Quarry at Kilmacow.

Permission was originally granted for the solar farm and ancillary works back in 2016. In 2018, Wexford Solar Farms went back to the council seeking approval for amendments they said would reduce the amount of panels required by changing the panel’s orientation.

The local authority approved these changes and would see the farm being able to produce enough energy to power 1,000 homes for a year.

Wexford Solar Farms has now returned to the council looking for an extension to the planning permission as it is set to expire later this year.

The council is expected to rule on the application by the end of the month.