Having successfully sold Terra Solar Ltd’s portfolio of commercially viable solar farm sites to the ESB, David Fewer and André Fernon are now focused on realising the potential of solar assets held by their other company Terra Solar II Ltd.
Based in NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, Terra Solar II Limited was founded in 2016 by Fewer and Fernon to deliver low-cost, renewable power to the Irish market. In 2015, the co-founders also established Terra Solar Ltd, a development entity where ESB acquired a 25% stake in 2016.
Terra Solar Ltd is being wound down having sold its developed sites to the ESB, bringing a total of 118MW of additional capacity to ESB’s solar portfolio.
With more than 800MW of solar farms under development across seven counties, Terra Solar II Ltd is one of Ireland’s largest solar developers.
More than 3% of Ireland’s energy needs
Once operational, Terra Solar II Limited’s pipeline would amount to more than 3% of Ireland’s energy needs, helping the country take a large step forward towards achieving its renewable energy targets.
The company has sites with grid connections to ESB Networks and EirGrid which have the capacity to deliver 300MW of solar power to the national grid. It has also secured full planning permission for the largest solar site in the country, north of Midleton, Co Cork. The 382-acre site has capacity to generate 125MW of electricity.
According to David Fewer, Terra Solar II’s total portfolio would power more than 180,000 homes. The company will be bidding more than 150MW into the upcoming RESS-1 (Renewable Electricity Support Scheme) auction, with a further 300-400MW ready to bid into RESS-2.
Full planning permission
“We’ve full planning permission on almost half of the portfolio (380MW) with another 220MW in or going into the planning system," he said. "Local communities are set to benefit once we begin construction of these sites which will most likely begin next year after the conclusion of the RESS-1 and RESS-2 auctions.”
André Fernon said: "The Irish market is at the beginning of a transformational evolution to renewable energy and solar has the potential to deliver 5 to 6GW between now and 2030.
"Equally, due to the dramatic fall in the cost of solar in recent years and the speed at which solar can be deployed, solar represents the ideal electricity source to help move us closer to our renewable energy targets.
"Ireland is the last market in Europe to deploy solar technology and we believe that we are well placed to be a major player in the Irish solar market.”