TAMS 3 offers enhanced grant for solar

Dairy Agribusiness

The Department of Agriculture confirmed the opening of TAMS 3 funding for capital investments on farms. It will be in place for five years with a budget of €370m, offering higher grant rates for environmental investments including organics, farm safety and young farmers.

Over €370 million in funding is now available under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3), with a focus on solar panels on farms in the first tranche.

Tranche 1 of the scheme opened on 22 February with solar panels on farms the first available investment. The other investments will become available on a phased basis during Tranche 1 which will close on 16 June. 

Commenting on the changes, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue said:

“We are also using TAMS to align more with our climate and sustainability goals through renewable energy, low emission spreading equipment and higher grant rates for organic farmers. It will also be a driver of our priorities on increasing the number of young farmers and women farmers and improving farm safety with higher grant rates for all of these.”

In order to encourage the purchase of solar investments reducing dependence on fossil energy by farmers, the solar scheme will be ring fenced with its own investment ceiling of €90,000 and will be grant aided at the enhanced rate of 60%. 

The Minister added: “In addition to the higher grant rates, I have also increased the size of the available investments from 12kW to 62kW. The scheme will enable every farmer to generate their own power for their dwelling and holding and will help to achieve a more sustainable rural economy, assisting farmers in reducing energy costs on their holdings”.

FarmGen

There is expected to be an increased number of suppliers investing using Tirlán’s solar package FarmGen, as a result of the increased TAMS funding regarding solar investments. FarmGen is Tirlan’s turnkey Solar Pv renewable energy solution for family farm suppliers. It sees Tirlán work in partnership with PV Generation and Finance Ireland to offer a growing number of farm families an opportunity to reduce their energy costs, boost their sustainability credentials and become more self-sufficient.

Farm families can avail of 100% financing for the FarmGen initiative through Tirlán’s FundEquip Scheme. This scheme offers a flexible and competitively-priced finance option with interest rates at 3.9% over 3 years or 4.5% over 5 years. No security is required and payments run from April to November.

As part of the initiative, FarmGen acts as the grant administrators for TAMs and SEAI grants, from application to drawdown. To date, FarmGen is the singular biggest user of TAMs for the installation of Solar PV on farm. 

Farm families who wish to register their interest can go to www.farmgen.ie

TAMS 3

There are a range of new improvements to the TAMS scheme including increased grant aid rates, investment ceilings, new investments, and new support categories. This includes enhanced grant-rate of 60% compared to a lower rate of 40% in TAMS II in respect of investments under the Low Emission Slurry Spreading Equipment, Organic Capital Investments and Farm Safety Investments.

TAMS 3 will run for five years and will include 10 schemes; it is will open for receipt of applications on a phased basis by scheme. Solar is now open. Next to follow will be Animal Welfare, Nutrient Storage Scheme (AWNSS) by mid-March and the remaining schemes will be open for applications on a phased basis by end May.

 

First Published 21 February 2023.

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