Work Begins On New Solar Farm In South Antrim

Work has started on a new solar farm in south Antrim.

The £7 million scheme will supply electricity to NI Water's Dunmore Water Treatment works.

The work is taking place on a 33-acre site on the eastern shore of Lough Neagh and when completed will produce a peak output of 4.99 megawatts and is expected to save over £0.5m annually in energy costs to the company.

The project will also enable the firm to contribute spare capacity to the grid.

CEO of NI Water, Sara Venning, said: "As the largest user of electricity in N. Ireland, we are committed to limiting our impact on the environment. NI Water expects to increase our electricity consumption from renewable sources from currently around 13% to 40% in 2020/21. This project will make a significant contribution towards our ability to achieve that stretching goal."

Sinn Féin spokesperson for Energy, Environment and Climate, Cathal Boylan MLA, said: "It is encouraging to see NI Water take positive steps to decrease their carbon footprint and promote renewable energy. The use of solar energy is even more encouraging as more needs to be done to diversify our renewable energy portfolio in the North.

"The cost of renewable energy has dropped dramatically in the last few years, this together with the benefits of renewable energy will hopefully encourage NI water to look at installing Solar Farms in some of their other facilities.

"I would encourage more companies to invest in renewable energy, especially on the back of the Bonn climate change conference held in Germany last week. It threw into stark reality that we need more action and more ambition to tackle climate change."

(CD/JP)