Project Information
Wexford Hub Solar Farm is located in County Wexford.
Wexford Hub Solar Farm is located in south County Wexford and comprises of four different sites named Growtown, Youngstown, Dennistown and Mayglass.
The sites will be connected back to a new 110kV Substation located at Dennistown via two new 33kV underground cables. A third underground cable will connect the project from the new Dennistown substation to the existing Wexford 110kV station at Barntown.
The location map provides more details of the site location.
The Growtown site is located in the townlands of Growtown Upper and Growtown Lower, approximately 3.6km northeast of the village Taghmon.
The Youngstown site is approximately 4km south east of the village of Taghmon and in the townlands of Youngstown and Tracystown.
The Dennistown site is located in the townlands of Dennistown approximately 1.3km southeast of the village of Murntown and 1.7km southwest of the village of Piercestown.
The Mayglass site is located in the townlands of Gardamus Great and Loughgunnen Great, approximately 3.6km northeast of the village of Bridgetown and 3km south of the village of Murntown.
The project secured planning permission for each of the four sites. There is also a separate planning permission for the new 110kV Dennistown substation associated cable route from Dennistown back to the existing Wexford 110kV Substation at Barntown. The 33kV cables have been granted Exempted Development status through 3 No. Section 5 applications. Details of each planning grant including dates and reference numbers are summarised in the table below.
Site | Wexford County Council Planning Permission Reference | Date |
---|---|---|
Dennistown | 20221589 | May 2023 |
Dennistown 110kV substation | An Board Pleanála ref: ABP-313191-22 | October 2022 |
Mayglass | 20181768 | July 2019 |
Youngstown | 20230233 | May 2023 |
Growtown | 20180012 and An Board Pleanála ref: ABP-301309-18 | March 2019 |
The project successfully obtained a capacity contract in the RESS 3 auction in September 2023.
The sites will consist of rows of southernly faced solar panels mounted on a galvanised metal framework.
The development of a solar farm on the proposed sites will not have any significant visual impact on roads, settlements or on any area of special amenity value. Due to the relatively low height of the solar arrays, combined with the flat low-lying character of the site and existing field boundaries, views of the proposed development are restricted.
Works commenced in May 2025 on the Dennistown site. This will involve the construction of the access road and the substation ground works. Similar access road works will commence in Mayglass and Youngstown in July 2025.
Main construction works of the Dennistown Substation will commence by July 2025.
The solar farm construction works are scheduled to commence in September 2025 and will involve the installation of ground mounted solar panels on light steel frames and the installation of associated underground cabling.
The construction of the three underground cable routes for the project will also commence in summer 2025. These works will consist of the installation of ducting predominantly in public roads prior to the installation of the electrical cables. In total there will be c. 25km of ducting across the three cable routes. The first cable route will be from Growtown to Dennistown via Youngstown. The second route will be from Mayglass to Dennistown, and third route will be from Dennistown to the existing 110kV Substation at Barntown. Localised traffic management and road closures will be required to facilitate these underground cable works which will be agreed in advance with Wexford County Council.
At a local level, there will be benefits from the construction and operation of the Wexford Hub Solar Farm. These include:
The Wexford Hub Solar Farm project will have a Community Benefit Fund which will distribute grants to organisations in the local area once the solar farm is operational. The fund is to be used for the wider economic, environment, social and cultural wellbeing of the local community. ESB has an independent dedicated administrator for our community benefits funds, and they are called SECAD. This is their application portal website: www.communitybenefitfunds.ie and there is a help section on the site that communities may find helpful, including links to webinars.
While the solar fund for Wexford Hub Solar Farm will not be operational until the project energises in 2027, we encourage the local community to start thinking about the kind of projects you think might be supported by the fund.
As we approach the energisation date, we will communicate updates via local media, through the local authorities and via this website.