Lightsource Renewable Energy has applied for consent for the construction of a 70 MW solar farm in the Republic of Ireland.
The UK-based developer wants to develop a 129 hectare plot of land in Dunboyne, County Meath, and says that the project would cost around €60 million.
The project would be the largest of its kind in Ireland and the British Isles.
Last year Meath Council granted consent for Highfield Solar to develop a 150 hectare solar farm.
Interest in solar energy development in Ireland has risen sharply because of falling costs of solar technology and the expectation that the country’s government will introduce a support mechanism for solar in 2018.
There is a pipeline of over 5 GW of ground-mounted solar energy projects in Ireland, although only a fraction of these will move forward to development, according to the Irish Solar Energy Association.
Lightsource has seven solar farms in Northern Ireland, and has secured planning permission for a 20 MW solar farm in County Tipperary in the south.
