Dairygold to power its processing plants with renewable solar electricity from a co-op member's farm.
Mitchelstown-based dairy co-operative Dairygold has become the first dairy processor in Ireland to sign a corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with one of its own farmer members.
The agreement between Dairygold and local grain supplier Michael Quirk will see the co-op purchase 5,000 MWh per year of renewable solar energy from Lurrig Solar Farm, located on Michael's farm in Aghada, Co Cork.
The solar farm, which was developed in 2022, will provide electricity for Dairygold's processing operations.
Among the products Dairygold produces for the home and export markets are milk and protein powers, cheese and butter.
"We’re delighted to enter this agreement with Lurrig Solar Farm. It is the first of its kind in the industry and brings together a leading dairy co-operative with a farmer supplier to source locally produced renewable electricity. Pioneering developments like this represent important progress on the implementation of our sustainability strategy," Dairygold's interim chief executive Michael Harte said.
"As a family farmer and member of Dairygold Co-Operative for more than four decades, both Rose and I are delighted to be involved in this groundbreaking agreement with our Co-Op," Lurrig farm owner Michael Quirk said.
"When we began farming here at Lurrig, the renewable energy industry did not exist, but today it is a central facet in all of our lives. We hope today's announcement will serve as encouragement for farmers to embrace opportunities in this area," he added.
Today's agreement is just one of a number of initiatives undertaken by Dairygold as part of its decarbonisation programme for its processing and transport operations, which include the development of the decarbonisation roadmap for processing, a programme to assist farmers to install Solar PV generation on their holdings and the installation of solar PV at Dairygold’s Lombardstown Mill in Mallow, Co Cork.
