Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Pippa Hackett has urged farmers to examine all options available to receive support for solar PV installations.
There is massive potential for the installation of rooftop solar panels on farms, however this will not be achieved through the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS), she said.
Minister Hackett has been urged by Senator Paul Daly in the Seanad today (Wednesday, October 19), to get on the European Commission and ensure that farmers can export excess energy to the grid under TAMS.
Senator Daly said at a time of the current energy crisis and continuous emergency announcements by the European Commission to tackle the crisis, dumping energy rather than taking it to the grid “sends out the wrong message”.
While he welcomed the proposed 60% TAMS grant rate, an investment ceiling of €90,000 for solar installation, and the inclusion of farm dwellings, he emphasised that the “solution is in Brussels”. He said:
“You are from rural Ireland minister, you are as aware as I am of the vast amount of farm shed roofs and the availability that is there for solar panels. This has massive potential.
“As long as the excess power is being dumped instead of being fed into the grid we are not going to have the buy in that we require. Because of the exceptional times we are in, your department needs to revisit Europe and see if there is any way around this.”
While Minister Hackett said she understands this issue has been examined with the European Commission, she urged farmers to examine all available options for support as TAMS is not the only option for farmers.
Other options for farmers
There are other state supports for the installation of solar panels, including from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) which can be installed in tandem with TAMS investment panels.
To date the DAFM has paid TAMS grant aid to 161 beneficiaries for solar installations on farms, however average applicants will not have excess electricity as panels are aligned with the consumption on the farm.
“We have massive roof space out there and there is massive potential but it is not going to be achieved through the TAMS grant, because this is really there for the consumption on the farm and those are the rules attached to that.
“But it doesn’t stop farmers examining other options, it doesn’t stop farmers coming together maybe in a community energy setting to generate their own energy and generate incomes from that.
“I am happy if there is support there that my department can provide for farmers to do that. Certainly reach out and we will see what there is,” the minister said.
Considering other available options such as recently announced supports of up to €2,400 for a maximum of 6kWp (kilowatt peak), which equals approximately 16 solar panels over 25m2, however, Senator Daly said is “complicating the issue”.
“Why do you have to go to two places, you are producing electricity and there is electricity needed and we are dumping the electricity, that is a contradiction,” he said adding that he can’t see many farmers looking at that option.
“There is a lot of money available, however we are not getting full value for it either as a state or a European Union. I know the terms and conditions of this scheme and it needs to be revisited,” the senator said.