Protestors in Galway urge review of solar farm plans after fears area could become ‘Chernobyl of Ireland’
Residents from Cregmore in Co Galway spent their Friday morning, including schoolchildren on thier mid-term break, in a demonstration against the battery energy storage systems (BESS) being developed at a 141-hectare solar farm.
Gathering outside County Hall on Friday February 20, the demand was a review of plans for the solar farm – lodged by Power Capital Renewable Energy (PCRE) and approved in 2021 – calling for a specific assessment of safety risks linked to BESS.
They argue the absence of clear, national guidelines on how emergencies such as fires would be managed has left the community deeply concerned about potential risks to homes and the wider area.
An Electricity Storage Policy Framework was published in 2024 as part of the State’s climate action commitments, and it includes consideration of safety guidelines for battery energy storage systems. The framework also refers to international best practice, including guidance from the Energy Storage Europe Association, which has worked with the National Fire Protection Association on safety recommendations for BESS installations.
However, no public information regarding emergency action has been circulated in Cregmore, residents claimed.
Lithium-ion battery energy storage systems are designed to store excess electricity generated by solar panels and release it when production drops, ensuring a steady supply. In the West of Ireland, where sunlight can be limited and inconsistent, these systems are seen as a crucial way of balancing output and maintaining a reliable flow of renewable energy.
While residents have “resigned to the fact” that the solar farm will go ahead, Galway County Councilor Noel Thomas, who attended the demonstration, said their primary concern is the lack of assurance and protection should an emergency incident occur involving the BESS units – and who would be responsible should it happen.
Cllr Thomas visited the site last week at the request of residents, telling the Irish Independent what he saw left him “absolutely disgusted.”
“The whole place is turned into an absolute abomination,” he said. “All you see are these black screens everywhere and bits of metal sticking out of the ground because some of it was not completed.”
Additionally, Cllr Thomas referenced a battery fire incident in Claregalway in January 2025 that showed just how dangerous an incident regarding these storage systems can be. Firemen responding to that scene are said to still be facing health reprecussions, Cllr Thomas said.
The incident currently remains a live investigation.
One demonstrator, who asked not to be named, said her children attend a school within close proximity to the planned battery installation.
“I'm concerned about the BESS batteries and if they go on fire what will happen?” she said. “I don't understand why our politicians and our government aren't addressing our concerns more seriously.”
Among those in attendance was Diarmuid Flaherty, who has raised similar concerns about a separate solar and battery project in Bellville expected to be the largest solar farm in Ireland.
He said he has contacted agencies like the EPA, the Health and Safety Authority, the Department of Transport, surveyors and local authorities seeking clarity on who “would have or should have had input in the design and deployment of these systems.”
“To make sure that if there is an incident, it is safe for the residents. If there is a fire or if there's a thermal runaway event and there is going to be toxic gases released or water poured on top of these chemicals and it goes down into the groundwater, what happens?”
At this time, he said, no agency has returned with answers he is looking for.
“Every request I've got back is, ‘We don't have any specific guidelines, we don't have any records, we don't have any plan’. Which to me is quite shocking,” he told the Irish Independent.
Seanad discussion records published in September 2025 confirm there is “no single authority under which the entire safety and regulation of grid-scale electricity storage lie,” however it is under the jurisdiction of multiple agencies.
Energy Storage Ireland reports that 155 BESS projects are now in development nationwide. That figure is causing alarm among residents, including demonstrator Jonny Farrell, who fears the consequences of inadequate safety planning will turn the area into the “Chernobyl of Ireland.”
Mr Farrell recently spoke at length with the Irish Independent about moving to Cregmore in 2020, just before the development was approved.
Pursuing the “rural dream”, the rolling green hills and serene silence he and his wife were accustomed to is now littered with drilling noise and metal structures, he said.
At the demonstration, he played a sound bite from his front door where the sharp, pounding noise of industrial rock breakers nearly drowned out the demonstrator’s chants.
As Cregmore residents continue to voice concerns, some question what cost Ireland is willing to bear to reach its climate targets, and whether communities are being left behind in the push.
Cllr Thomas said: “What’s happened in this country over the last few years is everybody is pushing so strong for the green agenda that people forget what's involved in a lot of these construction projects that are put together.”
Nearing the end of the demonstration, Mr Farrell entered county hall with his young daughter on is right hip and a box of petition signatures on his left, looking to engage with senior planning authorities.
About ten children held up a banner reading: “STOP the battery energy storage system.”
Mr Flaherty believes the gravity of the situation is easily missed by those not living beside large developments.
“It's devastating to be living beside a potential disaster,” he said. “Chemically, physically, pollution for your future, for your family, your price of your house, your children's future. If you had land and you were planning on your children to build a house beside you, all that's now gone.
“Solar is not designed for the west of Ireland but it's a beautiful idea.
“I don't think the people that think it's a beautiful idea have ever been on the ground and have looked at what it is doing to the farmland in rural communities in Ireland.”
The development in Cregmore is expected to be a topic of discussion at the Galway County Council meeting on February 23, as those at the demonstration are asking for a review of the plans submitted nearly five years ago now.
“The least anyone could do is take a fresh look at it. That's a minimum requirement for just common decency… take everything into account and make a decision based on today's facts,” Mr Flaherty said.
“Climate targets are all well and good on a global scale, but why should people trade their own personal safety, their own little patch of ground that they have and they've built and they've raised their children on. They should not have to trade that for a climate target if they're going to be at risk.”
At present, Power Capital Renewable Energy has applied for an extension of duration on the planning permissions approved in 2021, and the solar development is nearing conclusion of Phase 1. The decision is due by February 24.
Galway County Councilors and TDs were in attendance showing support for the community including Councilor Noel Thomas, Councilor Tom Welby, Councilor Tomas Grealish, as well as Sinn Fein TD’s Louis O’Hara and Mairéad Farrell.
The Irish Independent has contacted Power Capital Renewable Energy for comment.