Agridirect.ie discuss the Government’s plan to incentivise farmers to invest in solar panels, and ask: what are the potential benefits for the farming community?
McConalogue’s Big Energy Announcement
The Irish Examiner is reporting that Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, plans to announce a new scheme that will incentivise farmers to invest in solar energy projects. It seems that the new scheme will fund farmers to install solar panels on their farm buildings, creating an energy surplus that can be sold back to the grid at a profit to farmers.
Interesting News for the Farming Community
This is interesting news from a farming perspective. There is no doubt that renewable energy is the future. In another two decades, fossil fuels will be largely obsolete or unattainable, so any opportunity to transition our farms to renewable sources in the near future should be welcome news to a large sector of the farming community. I know that many of us would like to have made this switch long ago but were unable to do so, largely due to financial constraints. Much like electric vehicles, the installation of solar panels is extremely costly and, until recent months, fossil fuels were still the more affordable option.
Turning Tables
How the tables are turning on that front. With the cost of fossil fuels soaring due in large part to Putin’s war in Ukraine and the attendant sanctions on Russian fuel exports, renewables are beginning to look very attractive indeed. Therefore, the Government’s realisation is timely and surprisingly astute. Farmers, with our numerous outbuildings, are in a uniquely strong position to contribute to Ireland’s renewable market.
A Significant Improvement on TAMS
The Examiner is reporting that the new scheme will represent a significant improvement on TAMS, the current modernisation scheme which covers 40% of the costs of solar panel installation. Minister McConalogue is expected to inform the European Commission of his intention to increase this figure to 60%.
A Long Term Opportunity for Farmers
Even better, from the point of view of farming families trying to cope with runaway inflation, the new plan will scrap current (ridiculous) rules prohibiting the sale of energy back to the national grid. Therefore, this could represent a significant long-term financial opportunity for farmers willing to diversify into energy provision. It would mean that, during the summer months, farms with solar panels installed on shed rooves would be able to meet their own energy needs and sell the surplus back to the national grid at a profit.
A Word for the Sceptics
No doubt there are those among you who will snort in derision at the notion that solar panels could provide this kind of energy in rain-soaked Ireland. And I would have shared your scepticism until quite recently. But I have first-hand experience of the sophistication of modern renewable technology. My parents had solar panels installed a couple of years ago and, for a few months of the year, they are able to meet a large portion of their energy needs. On very sunny days such as this, their few panels are generating an energy surplus.
Imagine the energy that a farmer with a significant number of them on his sheds could generate!
EU Approval
If there is a note of caution, it is that this new figure is subject to EU approval. But, given the Union’s desperate need to transition away from dependency on Russian fossil fuels, it is hard to imagine that there will be much objection to the plan in Brussels. The need for energy security and a drive towards renewables has been one point of consistency among EU policymakers since the outbreak of Putin’s war.
