Flogas has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Meadhill Solar Farm, a 650kW farmer-developed solar project in Kildorrery, County Cork. The long-term offtake gives the project a route to market, which helped it secure financing and move into operation.

Flogas is part of DCC Energy, a division of Dublin-headquartered DCC plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and reported revenue of £15.4 billion and adjusted operating profit of £634.0 million for the year to March 2026. Meadhill was developed independently by farmer Sean Keating and installed by PV Generation, with more than 1,000 panels across 1.5 acres that generate enough electricity for around 150 local households a year while sheep continue to graze beneath them.

The structural driver is the long-term power purchase agreement as the route to bankability for small, farmer-led solar projects. Without a committed buyer for the electricity, a project of this size struggles to attract lenders, which is the gap the Flogas agreement fills.

Keating said the project "started back in 2017 with a simple vision to diversify our farm's income and build a sustainable, long-term legacy for my family." Planning, grid connection and financing all required significant work, he said, before the 15-year agreement made the project bankable.

Ken O'Byrne, managing director of Flogas Energy, said "what makes Meadhill Solar Farm significant is that it shows how a long-term PPA can help a farmer-led renewable project move from an idea on paper to a fully operational asset." He added that the company's role is "to provide the commercial certainty that gives projects like this a route to market and helps unlock the investment needed to bring them forward."

Flogas said it sees significant potential for the model to support more farmers, SMEs and independent renewable developers across rural Ireland.

For the sector, Meadhill shows that an energy supplier's long-term offtake can turn a single farmer's solar plan into financeable infrastructure, a template other rural projects can follow.

Source: irishtechnews.ie / rte.ie