Perigus Energy’s first Irish solar farm now fully operational

Cork headquartered Perigus Energy (formerly Ørsted onshore) has today announced its first Irish solar farm in Garreenleen, County Carlow is completed and fully operational to generate renewable electricity for the Irish grid. 
 
The 81 MW solar farm, located approximately 15km outside of Carlow town, will produce enough green electricity to power the equivalent of 29,000 Irish homes. The Garreenleen solar farm brings Perigus Energy’s Island of Ireland operational capacity from 373 MW to 454 MW, and to 668 MW Europe-wide across Ireland, UK, Germany and Spain.  
 
Construction on the project began in June 2024 after Perigus Energy was awarded the contract under the Government’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS 3) auction in October 2023. 
 
TJ Hunter, Managing Director, Ireland and the UK at Perigus Energy said: 
“It is great to see Garreenleen fully operational. Only 2 years after starting construction, this former greenfield site is now exporting green, secure and homegrown electricity to the Irish grid. It is a strong example of the speed of delivery of onshore renewables and what can be achieved as we continue to build out Ireland’s renewable energy infrastructure. 

For Perigus Energy, this is an important milestone and reflects our ambition in Ireland and our commitment to continued investment in Ireland’s green energy future. Solar has an increasingly important role to play alongside wind and energy storage in our energy mix. We look forward to building on this progress as we develop our renewable energy portfolio across the country.” 
 
The solar farm also incorporates a range of measures designed to support biodiversity and the surrounding environment, including 10% of the site being ringfenced for biodiversity enhancement and the planting of over 1.2 kilometres of native hedgerows to provide screening and ecological corridors for local wildlife. 
  
A community benefit fund of approximately €240,000 will also be made available each year during the project’s operation for the benefit of the local community, and the fund is now open for applications. 
 
Solar is an important part of Perigus Energy’s renewable energy portfolio, with the company advancing a growing pipeline of projects across its markets. This includes the proposed 740 MW One Earth Solar Farm in the UK, which was recently approved by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and represents one of the company’s largest investments in onshore renewables, powering more than 200,000 UK homes once fully operational.