HOW MUCH ENERGY WOULD IRISH FARMS NEED TO GENERATE TO ELIMINATE ALL ENERGY IMPORTS?

According to the Central Statistics Office, in 2016 there were 137,500 farms in Ireland and the average farm size was was 32.4 hectares (80.1 acres). In order to eliminate all energy imports, the farms would need to generate 114 million MWh of energy every year. That's an average of 829 MWh per farm. We believe that this is a very realistic figure. One kilowatt peak (kWp) of solar panels can produce one MWh of energy per year. This means that every farm would need to install an average of 829 kWp of solar panels. This would take up about 1.38 hectares of land (4.26%). A combination of solar and wind power could reduce the amount of land needed to 0.4-0.9 hectares (1.0-2.2 acres). The exact amount would depend on the conditions on each farm. This combined solution would only take up 1.2-2.8% of the average farm (32.4 hectares).