First phase of new Solar Meitheal project gets underway in Offaly

A MEETING of the homeowners involved in the first phase of the Fivealley PV Solar Meitheal took place on Wednesday evening last in Rath and marked the official commencement of the Meitheal bringing almost 10 months of planning to a successful conclusion.

The Meitheal now moves to the implementation stage which will see up to 58 houses within a 10km radius transition away from reliance on fossil fuels to Solar PV energy source.

The Solar Meitheal is an initiative of Fivealley Development Group, who are also registered as a Sustainable Energy Community. The objective of the Fivealley SEC is to bring about carbon reduction, promoting a shift to renewable energy sources in an area of South Offaly that relied on fossil fuels such as turf and briquettes for generations. During the planning phase of the parish Plan launched in February this year, the sample surveyed highlighted reliance on solid fuels, peat briquettes/turf, firewood or a combination as their main source of heating. 83% of those surveyed did not have immediate plans to change their heating source with 56% citing cost as the main barrier.

Against this backdrop, Fivealley SEC began to work with SEAI Mentor, Laurence O'Reilly to research the concept of a Solar Meitheal for the Parish to help accelerate a shift to renewables. In April, a public meeting was held with the support of the SEAI to determine interest in a local PV Solar Meitheal and 103 Expressions of Interest from homeowners came forward.

With the key objective of achieving value for homeowners, Fivealley SEC invited quotations from 12 SEAI registered contractors to deliver a pilot project in Eglish Drumcullen Parish and following a very competitive process, Tullamore firm Alternative Energy Ireland have been selected to deliver the project for the first cohort who stand to benefit from the full SEAI grant which will be matched by Bord na Mona.

Phase 2 of the project will be rolled out in 2025 contingent on the availability of funds and the learning from this pilot phase.

The Fivealley SEC is a sub committee of the Fivealley Development Group and includes; Anne Egan, Chair, Rita Guinan, Secretary, Una Watkins and Grace Grennan.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Anne Egan, Chair of Fivealley Development, acknowledged the support of SEAI Mentor, Laurence O'Reilly and the Committee which is entirely voluntary and wished AEI well with this very ambitious project.

Speaking at the event, Rita Guinan, Secretary, stated that this is the first Meitheal of its kind in the Midlands, and of this scale in Ireland, and called on the attendees to play their part to derive benefits and success for everyone involved including the local community, Bord na Mona, SEAI, Contractors, and the environment going forward. With grants and significant private Sector funding this Meitheal represents a major investment in a sustainable future for the area.

SEAI Mentor, Laurence O'Reilly explained that the Sustainable Energy Community concept to the gathering and highlighted that communities of active energy citizens such as this will lead the societal transformation to a low carbon future.

Una Watkins closed the event managing a lively Q&A session and called on homeowners not going ahead to come forward as soon as possible to allow Fivealley Development substitute others from the initial verified list of 103 homeowners within the 10km catchment.