Farmers are being offered €20,000 to €25,000/ac per year to lease their land for large-scale battery projects.

Battery energy storage systems are a relatively new development in Ireland.

They collect electricity from renewables or from the electricity grid, storing it in large battery storage units, and releasing it back to the grid when needed. Currently, there are 17 of these developments in Ireland with many more in planning.

Unlike solar farms, they only require a relatively small area or around four to five acres. Larger projects are also in development however.

Leases

Typically, these developments involve the long-term leasing of land from landowners. Many systems are planned for land beside electrical substations.

The lease can be structured in several ways. Per-acre lease agreements have been made on a number of projects and with lease prices ranging €20,000 to €25,000/ac per year for 30 years or more.

Other lease agreements opt for a payment per MW of installed storage capacity. Leases are usually valued at around €1,200 per MW.

If a four-acre site could accommodate an 80MW storage system, the farmer’s lease value would be €24,000/ac per year.