Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 4 May 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Solar Energy and the Agricultural Industry: Discussion

Dr. Laurence Shalloo:

I thank the Deputy for the question. Some €50,000 on a 50 acre farm would be €1,000 per acre. In our national farm survey, dairy enterprises, which are the most profitable, make between €1,300 and €1,400 per hectare, which would be €600 or €700 per acre. That will be a strong, competitive business opportunity.

From our perspective, this is a great opportunity. If one looks at the numbers that have been done, and Dr. Upton is doing these all the time, and at the return on investment when one is talking about a solar farm or about solar on a roof, the returns are quite strong. These are very comparable with many of the investments that one could make on a farm or outside a farm. From our point of view, we would be completely positive towards investment that will give very strong returns. That is something that-----

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