Locals have vowed to oppose plans for what would become one of Ireland’s largest solar farms in the Inch and Killeagh area of east Cork.
Denmark-based renewable energy company Ørsted and the well-known Browne dairy farming family last month announced plans to develop a 250MW solar farm on the Brownes’ Greenhills farm. It is understood the farm could extend to over 1,000ac in size.
Over 100 people attended a meeting of the Inch Killeagh Rural Preservation Group on Wednesday 9 April, where concerns were raised about the impact such a large solar farm would have on the local area.
Inch Killeagh Rural Preservation Group meeting 9 April 2025.
Una Fitzgerald criticised the “enormous industrial scale site” and told the meeting that it would restrict agricultural expansion in the area, particularly for young farmers.
Estimating the site would include over 2m square metres of photovoltaic (PV) panels and 23km of fencing, Fitzgerald warned that it would be 2065 before the landscape could return to agriculture, if planning were approved.
“My 11-year-old would be 51 years of age by then,” she said.
Califf Delaney, from Leamlara, Co Cork, said the Government, through its Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) was incentivising solar companies who were profit-driven private companies whose investors want a return.
Industrialisation
Delaney urged the Inch and Killeagh community to get expert help with their objections, saying: “They say, we’ll return it to farmland in 40 years’ time. It’s never coming back once it’s industrialised, it’s never coming back.” Fermoy-based independent councillor Peter O’Donoghue likened solar farm development in Cork to a “cancer”, telling the Irish Farmers Journal: “What we’re seeing now,... is the transition of prime agricultural land into solar farms, and this is very, very concerning for me.”
Independent councillor Peter O'Donoghue at the Inch Killeagh Rural Preservation Group meeting 9 April 2025.
“Only last week, we were at Moorepark’s research facility there and we spoke about how important dairy is for our economy…but yet here we are seeing huge tracts of dairy land being transferred and changed into solar production facilities.”
Planning guidelines
He called for all solar farm applications in Cork to be paused until planning guidelines for solar are put in place.
The proposed development is one of a number of solar farms being developed in Co Cork.
Theresa Carey said: “I want to live in a rural setting. I do not want to be in an industrial zone.” Asked about Ireland’s climate targets, she stressed: “We are not anti-renewables. We do believe that solar panels should be on every roof in Ireland. We have them ourselves. They should be on any scrub land, any land that’s not useful.
“They should not be on growing agricultural land that we need for heavy cows and milk and also for growing crops.” The Government has set a target of eight gigawatts of solar energy by 2030. The Greenhills solar farm, if approved, would be part of Ørsted’s plans for a 250MW solar farm, which Ørsted says would equate to powering at least 52,000 homes.
Locals have vowed to oppose plans for what would become one of Ireland’s largest solar farms in the Inch and Killeagh area of east Cork.
Denmark-based renewable energy company Ørsted and the well-known Browne dairy farming family last month announced plans to develop a 250MW solar farm on the Brownes’ Greenhills farm. It is understood the farm could extend to over 1,000ac in size.
Over 100 people attended a meeting of the Inch Killeagh Rural Preservation Group on Wednesday 9 April, where concerns were raised about the impact such a large solar farm would have on the local area.
Inch Killeagh Rural Preservation Group meeting 9 April 2025.
Una Fitzgerald criticised the “enormous industrial scale site” and told the meeting that it would restrict agricultural expansion in the area, particularly for young farmers.
Estimating the site would include over 2m square metres of photovoltaic (PV) panels and 23km of fencing, Fitzgerald warned that it would be 2065 before the landscape could return to agriculture, if planning were approved.
“My 11-year-old would be 51 years of age by then,” she said.
Califf Delaney, from Leamlara, Co Cork, said the Government, through its Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) was incentivising solar companies who were profit-driven private companies whose investors want a return.
Industrialisation
Delaney urged the Inch and Killeagh community to get expert help with their objections, saying: “They say, we’ll return it to farmland in 40 years’ time. It’s never coming back once it’s industrialised, it’s never coming back.” Fermoy-based independent councillor Peter O’Donoghue likened solar farm development in Cork to a “cancer”, telling the Irish Farmers Journal: “What we’re seeing now,... is the transition of prime agricultural land into solar farms, and this is very, very concerning for me.”
Independent councillor Peter O'Donoghue at the Inch Killeagh Rural Preservation Group meeting 9 April 2025.
“Only last week, we were at Moorepark’s research facility there and we spoke about how important dairy is for our economy…but yet here we are seeing huge tracts of dairy land being transferred and changed into solar production facilities.”
Planning guidelines
He called for all solar farm applications in Cork to be paused until planning guidelines for solar are put in place.
The proposed development is one of a number of solar farms being developed in Co Cork.
Theresa Carey said: “I want to live in a rural setting. I do not want to be in an industrial zone.” Asked about Ireland’s climate targets, she stressed: “We are not anti-renewables. We do believe that solar panels should be on every roof in Ireland. We have them ourselves. They should be on any scrub land, any land that’s not useful.
“They should not be on growing agricultural land that we need for heavy cows and milk and also for growing crops.” The Government has set a target of eight gigawatts of solar energy by 2030. The Greenhills solar farm, if approved, would be part of Ørsted’s plans for a 250MW solar farm, which Ørsted says would equate to powering at least 52,000 homes.
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