Farmers can apply for grant aid to install solar PV on their rooftops under the new Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3) from today (Wednesday, February 22).
Grant aid under the solar capital investment scheme (SCIS) will be paid at a rate of 60% with a ceiling of €90,000.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, said he wanted to prioritise the introduction of solar investments because he said “it will enable farmers to generate their own power”.
“In addition to the higher grant rates, I have also increased the size of the available investments from 11kW to 62kW,” the minister added.
Farmers can include the energy required for their family home when calculating the solar panel requirement overall.
The expanded SCIS is likely to prove popular with farmers according to both industry and farm organisations, particularly in light of rising energy costs.
The SCIS is also ring fenced which means eligible farmers are able to apply for the maximum ceiling of €90,000 along with for example a ceiling of €40,000 for the Low Emission Slurry Scheme (LESS) and an increased ceiling of €90,000 for all other TAMS 3 schemes.
Minister McConalogue said: “This separate investment ceiling for solar PV now provides an opportunity for farmers to realise energy cost savings and also contribute to our energy security and decarbonisation nationally.”
According to the minister an estimated €89 million has been allocated for TAMS 3 in 2023.
He said one of the key aims behind the latest TAMS is to “support productive farming”.
“We are also using TAMS to align more with our climate and sustainability goals through renewable energy, low emission spreading equipment and higher grant rates for organic farmers.
“It will also be a driver of our priorities on increasing the number of young farmers and women farmers and improving farm safety with higher grant rates for all of these,” the minister added.
TAMS 3 does not operate on a first come, first served basis. Instead, all applications have to go through a ranking and selection process following the closing date.