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Irish Independent

Cork protestors want updated wind and solar farm regulations

Cork Communities Alliance for Change is an alliance of ten action groups around the county. Their goal is to increase public awareness of the lack of regulation of wind and solar projects and their associated battery energy storage systems (BESS) and to put pressure on the government to pass appropriate regulations. Bernie Collins of the Gooseberry Hill Action Group, one of the groups in the alliance, told the Irish Independent that they are not against renewable energy, but are against unregulated or under-regulated sources. "There is a place for renewable energy, but it has to be regulated and it has to be away from people's houses, schools, villages, and in appropriate settings," he said. "And what they're doing at the moment is they're not doing that because there's just too much money being rolled out to developers to get these things off the ground to meet the 2030 [climate] targets. And they're basically putting the horse behind the cart instead of the other way around,' Mr Collins added. The current wind energy development guidelines date back to 2006. The wind turbines of today are vastly different in design, efficiency, and scale compared to when the guidelines were drafted, according to the Community Environmental Protection Alliance (CEPA), an organisation founded by families and communities affected by industrial wind turbine developments in Ireland. There are currently no central planning guidelines for large-scale solar farms in Ireland. Proposals for individual solar energy developments are subject to the statutory requirements of the Planning and Development Act 2000. Planning applications are made to the relevant local planning authority or, if appealed, to An Bord Pleanála. One of the issues concerning groups like Cork Communities Alliance for Change is the risk of a wind or solar farm's lithium-ion batteries catching fire. "Everywhere there is solar or wind going to be, there will be batteries because [former Environment Minister] Eamon Ryan brought a framework document in last year. And basically he was pushing for battery storage, BESS, with every renewable energy project, which again is putting the horse before the cart because there is no fire officer anywhere in Ireland trained for this," said Mr Collins. A fire at a lithium battery production plant in Claregalway in January forced the evacuation of a number of schools and businesses and saw five firefighters briefly hospitalized. The plant has since closed. In addition to the protest at next week's meeting of Cork County Council, two Councillors will put forward motions asking the Environment Minister to pause all further planning applications until there are proper regulations in place for wind turbines and also calling for solar and BESS regulations to be implemented. Similar motions have been or are being brought before other County Councils, including in Clare where a recent motion calling on the Council not to approve any more wind farm applications until the national guidelines are updated received cross-party support. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.