Facebook parent to buy power supply from State’s biggest solar farms

Facebook-owner Meta has agreed a deal to buy all of the renewable power from two of the largest solar farms in the country to power its data centres, according to The Business Post.

The social media company said it has signed a corporate power purchase agreement with Highfield Energy, an Irish-owned firm for its solar farms at Rosspile, Co Wexford and Gillinstown, Co Meath.

The solar farms, which began operating in 2022 have a combined 138-megawatt peak (MWp) capacity, making them among the largest solar assets in the country, the newspaper said. Meta said it would use the energy from farms to support its operations in Ireland, including its hyperscale data centre in Clonee, Co Meath.

Aughinish warns on European aluminium production

Aughinish Alumina, the Russian-owned Limerick smelter firm, has sounded the alarm over the state of aluminium production in Europe, the Sunday Independent reports.

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In a letter to the European Commission earlier this year, the company, which extracts alumina from bauxite at its site in Limerick, warned the “European aluminium industry is in crisis,” adding that greater efforts need to be made to retain and expand aluminium production within Europe.

“Europe will be forced to import an increasing amount from jurisdictions that Europe does not necessarily have strong import relationships with, at a higher carbon cost and more exposed to supply threats (semiconductors and gas are recent high-profile examples),” the company wrote.

Dublin Airport scales back growth plans

DAA is planning to throttle back growth at Dublin Airport to ensure that the operator does not exceed the number of passengers it handles under its existing planning permission with Fingal County Council, The Sunday Times reports.

Kenny Jacobs, the DAA chief executive, told the newspaper the company was planning a “managed growth strategy” to avoid materially exceeding the annual cap of 32 million passengers “on an adjusted basis”.

The passenger cap forms part of the planning permission granted in 2007 for the construction of Terminal 2, and it is understood that Fingal County Council has written to the operator in recent weeks reminding it of the requirement.

UK grocer’s Amazon deal

UK grocer Waitrose is in talks to sell groceries via Amazon as it battles to regain market share lost in the cost of living crisis, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

The pair are considering a partnership years after the John Lewis-owned supermarket cut ties with Ocado to go it alone online.

Waitrose and Amazon have been discussing a so-called third-party deal, similar to the one struck by frozen foods specialist Iceland in recent weeks, the newspaper said.

Amazon is selling the full range of Iceland products and offering free same-day grocery delivery for its Prime subscribers. The “Iceland on Amazon” service is initially being trialled in Greater Manchester before a wider UK roll-out.