Statkraft turns sod on Irish solar site

• The 34MW Harlockstown project is being established as part of a CPPA with Microsoft

Statkraft has turned the sod on the 34MW Harlockstown Solar project in Ireland.

The project in Co. Meath is one of several renewable energy projects being provided as part of a CPPA package with Microsoft which was signed in 2014.

Under the multi-year offers, Statkraft Ireland will provide the technology company with 366MW of clean energy from 6 of its wind as well as solar farms.

The CPPA also establishes a Community Benefit Fund that will certainly provide gives of about EUR1.3 m over the lifetime of the project to community-led clean power as well as environmental justice campaigns to assist develop a brighter future, and also make a distinction in the communities that we operate in.

The Irish Government's Climate Action Plan includes a target of 15% of power need to be delivered from renewable resource CPPAs by 2030.

This corresponds to approximately 6 terawatt hours of added electrical energy generation.

Through its renewable resource contract with Statkraft and its other CPPAs revealed in November 2023, Microsoft's purchase will see the advancement of more than 900MW of onshore wind and solar energy projects.

Talking at the event, Minister of State for Profession Promo, Digital and Company Policy, Dara Calleary, stated: "Our future is both green as well as digital, as well as just how we manage information will be a critical to our decarbonisation ambitions.

" Renewable energy has a really important duty to play in our fight to secure the world, as well as I want to praise Statkraft and Microsoft on this crucial campaign.

" This new solar project has capacity to power the equivalent of almost 9,000 homes-- Corporate PPAs have an actual role to play in supporting Ireland's renewable energy and also climate targets, and I think can be an important device to sustain the broader system changes needed in the electricity field to supply enduring benefits to homes, services, and also neighborhood communities."

Kevin O'Donovan, senior vice head of state at Statkraft added: "There is an expanding understanding among the public of the value of solar power to satisfy the nation's power demands and safety of supply.

" Every single solar panel installed ways importing less polluting and also expensive fossil fuel while at the same time, strengthening Ireland's future power protection.

" There is no magic formula when it concerns climate action as well as conference our 2030 targets.

" It will need a series of quickly deployed modern technologies and services all working in consistency to decarbonise our electricity supply. Because of that, we are delighted today to be revealing the start of building and construction on Harlockstown Solar."