In order to encourage the purchase of solar investments thereby reducing dependence on fossil energy by farmers, the solar scheme will be ring fenced with its own investment ceiling increased from €80,000 to €90,000 and the grant rate increased from 40% to 60% and the maximum installed capacity increased from 11kW to 62kW. There is no distinction between young farmers and other farmers on solar panel investments. The size of installation is also subject to the capacity of the grid connection to accommodate export of electricity.
The separate investment ceiling for solar PV, now provides an opportunity for farmers to realise energy cost savings and also contribute to energy security and decarbonisation nationally.
The scheme will enable every farmer to generate their own power for their dwelling and holding and will help to achieve a more sustainable rural economy, assisting farmers in reducing energy costs on their holdings.
Farmers may also include the energy demand of one dwelling house per holding in the sizing of the solar panel array, which will greatly benefit farm families during the current energy crisis.
Adoption of sustainable energy practices at farm level, including energy efficiency, deployment of renewables at farm level and the provision of agriculture feedstocks for renewable energy generation is a key climate pillar for the agriculture sector in:
- Reducing energy costs on farm;
- Reducing the carbon footprint at farm level; and
- Contributing to the decarbonisation of the overall energy system
TAMS 3 is a demand led Scheme and all applications are subject to ranking and selection. The ranking system has been designed to fairly rank applications. Details of the marking sheet is available on my Department’s website.
