ILOS Energy has secured a €143m debt finance facility to fund construction of a 217MW solar farm in Ballyhea, Co Cork, Ireland.
The agreement with Danske Bank will support works that began in April and are progressing ahead of schedule, according to the company.
The utility-scale project, developed with Soleire Renewables, will span about 500 acres and generate power for around 39,000 homes.
Construction of the separate 220MW Erkina solar farm near Roscrea in Co Tipperary is almost complete following investment of about €130m, and ILOS Energy said it started its energisation process with EirGrid in late October.
The developer added that the two Irish projects will have almost 440MW of combined capacity and increase Ireland’s current operational solar fleet by about 25%.
The company and Soleire Renewables are also advancing four further utility-scale projects in the east of the country at various stages of development.
“I’m pleased to announce that ILOS Energy have secured a new €143 million debt finance facility from our partners in Danske Bank, which will fund the construction of our 217MW solar farm project in Ballyhea, Co Cork over the coming year,” said Mark Varian, managing director for ILOS Energy in Ireland.
“Alongside our 220MW solar park in Tipperary, which is nearly complete and will begin exporting to the national grid in December, ILOS Energy and our development partners in Soleire Renewables are proud to be bringing projects of significant scale to market that will make a tangible difference to Ireland’s 2030 climate targets,” added Varian.
“Over the coming years, we’ll continue to progress further utility scale projects in other strategic locations of the country, which will play a vital role in decarbonising Ireland’s energy system while also enhancing our security of supply,” stated Varian.