PLANS for a solar farm spanning nearly 250 hectares near Punchestown Racecourse in Co Kildare has raised concerns within the racing and breeding industry.

A planning application has been submitted to Kildare County Council by Dublin-based Delamain Solar Farm Limited.

The company wishes to cover well over one million square metres with solar panels in the townlands of Brannockstown, Brownstown, Carnalway, Coghlanstown West, Corbally, Delamain, Dunnstown, Gaganstown, Greenhills, Harristown, Hillsborough, Moorhill and Rochestown.

The operational lifespan of the proposed solar farm will be 40 years.

There are also plans to locate a battery energy storage facility in the area, currently in a judicial review process, as well as another solar farm near Swordlestown for which permission has been granted but has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

There are also unconfirmed reports of plans for a third solar farm project in an area between Swordlestown South and Coughlanstown West.

If all three solar farm proposals are eventually built, they would represent more than 1,300 acres of prime agricultural land being covered in solar panels.

This week two prominent figures in Irish racing and breeding contacted The Irish Field to voice their concerns about the solar farm projects. They requested anonymity to avoid being wrongly accused of being labelled opponents of green energy.

“Renewable energy is obviously very important and nobody would object to small solar farms being around them, but there has to be a balance,” said one Co Kildare racing industry professional.

“You are looking at losing 1,000 acres of prime limestone or arable land to these projects. Is that the best use of this resource? These mega-projects are going to change the landscape irredeemably. We think brownfield sites are better suited to giant solar farms.”

Backed by local politicians, residents and stud farms in the area have expressed their intention to challenge a decision by An Bord Pleanála to allow Dublin company Strategic Power to develop a battery energy storage system [BESS] at Dunnstown.

An information evening regarding Dunnstown project has been scheduled for next Tuesday, June 27th at 8pm in The Brown Bear, Two-Mile House in Naas.

Permission for the project was initially turned down by Kildare County Council and Kildare’s chief fire officer expressed concern over “multiple issues with regard to fire which may be deemed prejudicial to public safety”.

A report commissioned by Northern Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority found that any BESS container has the potential to catch fire and explode even with mitigation measures.

A leading breeder based in the area said: “These, literally hundreds of thousands of solar panels, at each location, generate enough noise to crack the external plasterwork on houses.

“It is contrary to every aspect of equine welfare for horses to be exposed to these levels of noise. It jeopardises both the health and safety of these very valuable thoroughbreds and their equally vulnerable and important handlers.”