Wexford council ‘sold a pup’ by the ESB as fight to thwart 300-acre solar farm gathers pace

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

The “chickens are coming home to roost” for Wexford County Council (WCC) as the prospect of a 300-acre solar farm being developed in the west of the country draws ever closer. In September of last year, Gen7 Renewable Energy Limited applied for planning permission for the farm in Gusserane and immediately faced strong opposition from the local community.

That opposition centred round the “industrial scale of the project”, “the proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and 220kV substation and its proximity to Gusserane National School”, and the “loss of productive agricultural land”. It also led to the creation of the Gusserane Community Action Group (GCAG), an organisation which has repeatedly lobbied local politicians for their support.

And at the May meeting of WCC that support came in the form of a motion submitted by Councillors Michael Sheehan and Marty Murphy which noted the lack of “planning, safety, and emergency response standards” regarding the development of large-scale BESS, a technology that captures electrical energy and stores it in batteries for later use.

Calling on Housing Minister James Browne TD to provide “a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework for BESS, including planning, safety and emergency response guidance”, the councillors asked that, on a local level, WCC would provide “clear policy guidance on the siting and assessment of large-scale BESS . . . including consideration of appropriate locations, separation distances from residential areas and sensitive receptors, protection of water resources, emergency response capacity, access and infrastructure constraints, and cumulative impact.”

Cllr Pip Breen, Clrr Oliver Walsh, Cllr Paddy Kavanagh, Alan O Shea and Tom Byrne at the Ballaghkeen NS Safe Routes Public Meeting. PHOTO: Sabrina Ffrench

While councillors have sought ways to prevent the solar farm in Gusserane from being approved, council officials have insisted they must adhere to planning guidelines when assessing any and all applications.

And, according to Cllr Paddy Kavanagh, the die was cast many years ago when WCC invited the ESB to “put panels on every bit of land it wanted”.

“The ESB sold us this like a pup, we had them in here and no one objected to it at the time,” he said. “We told the ESB it was more than welcome to put solar panels on every bit of fine land they wanted. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. It was obvious this was going to happen.

“On that day I asked why we weren’t putting solar panels on the roofs of every industrial building in the country and using what we already have instead of destroying our landscape.”

While councillors in the New Ross district have submitted a number of motions to various government departments in an attempt to thwart this solar farm, not every elected representative is opposed to this, and other, developments.

“I don’t know what the issue is with storage batteries, without them you can’t store your electricity,” said Cllr Pip Breen. “It works across the whole of Europe, especially in Spain, it’s a tried and tested system.”

However, following a show of hands, the motion was carried and will now be forwarded to Minister Browne’s office for consideration.