Press Release: Too many projects are being slowed by process - Solar Ireland CEO
Industry calls for national clearing house to be set up and help accelerate renewable delivery
Solar Ireland says avoidable bottlenecks in planning and grid processes are slowing the delivery of renewable energy projects across Ireland. The organisation, which represents members across the sector from rooftop installers to solar farm developers, is calling on the Government to establish a national clearing house to accelerate deployment and unlock projects currently delayed within the system, to help sustain the current momentum.
The call comes just days after a double-record-breaking weekend for solar generation, where Ireland’s solar farm output broke first 1GW, and then 1.2GW peak milestones.
Solar Ireland says the proposed clearing house would act as a central coordination mechanism across key stakeholders, including government departments, planning authorities, industry, and grid operators, with a focus of improving delivery.
Its role would be to:
- Identify and resolve delays to developments in real time
- Ensure consistency in decision-making and timelines
- Support the progression of viable projects
- Improve transparency and accountability across the system
CEO of Solar Ireland, Ronan Power, says the sector has demonstrated what it can deliver, and the time is right to engage the combined value a clearing house can bring for solar:
“Ireland has shown that it can deliver renewable energy at scale. What we need now is a system that can keep pace with that ambition. Too many projects are being slowed by process rather than principle. A clearing house would provide a structured way to identify issues early, resolve them quickly, and ensure that viable projects are not delayed unnecessarily.
We have already seen that coordinated delivery models can work. The focus now must be on applying the same approach to onshore renewables. If we are serious about meeting our renewable energy targets, we need to focus on how projects move through the system, not just how they are approved.”
Solar Ireland is also calling for a clearer longer-term strategic framework, including defined pathways beyond 2030, with climate action targets for 2035 and 2040, to support continued investment and industry growth. Ronan Power says we’ve seen the evidence of what the industry can provide:
“The next step is to create the conditions for that delivery to accelerate. A clearing house model, combined with clear long-term targets, would provide the structure and certainty needed to move to the next phase. The capability is there. The projects are there. The demand is there. The focus now must be on enabling delivery at the speed and scale required.”