Screen a wind, solar or battery site before you commit to it
Check any site for the ecological designations and peat that most often sink renewable schemes, with flood, zoning and the refused applications around it — from official records, in one click.
Key features for renewable energy developers
- Refusal reasonsRefused schemes near a site, in the council’s own words.
- Subsoil & peatPeat and karst flagged on any site, from Geological Survey Ireland.
- Site auditWhether a site sits inside an SAC, SPA, NHA or proposed NHA, with flood and zoning alongside.
- Owner lookupThe coordinates to find the landowner on the land register.
How you would use it
- 1
Screen the ground
Ecological designations and peat first — the constraints refused schemes most often failed on.
- 2
Read refused schemes nearby
What the council objected to on wind, solar and battery applications around the site, and why.
- 3
Find the landowner
Take the coordinates to landdirect.ie and read the folio.
What refused schemes failed on
We read 88 refused wind, solar and battery storage applications from 25 councils, 2021 to 2026. Ecology and Natura 2000 were cited in 61% of them, landscape in 50% — and peat appeared in nine, both as a landslide risk and as a protected habitat in its own right.
Published 4 September 2026, from the figures on record that day.
Read the renewables analysisWhat it can’t tell you
- No grid capacity or connection data yet.
- No wind or solar resource data.
- Ecology is checked at the point. A European site nearby can still require Appropriate Assessment screening.
- Subsoil comes from a 1:50,000 regional map, not a site investigation.
Questions
What should I check on a site for a wind or solar farm in Ireland?
Start with the ground: whether the site is inside a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area or Natural Heritage Area, and whether it is on peat. Ecology and Natura 2000 were the reasons most often cited in the refused renewable schemes we analysed. Precedent checks both for any site, with flood, zoning and planning history alongside.
Does Precedent have grid capacity data?
Not yet. There is no grid capacity, grid connection, or wind and solar resource data in Precedent today.
Can I see refused renewable energy schemes near a site?
Yes. The map shows every refused application around a site, with the council’s reasoning wherever it was extracted, and you can filter refusals by theme.
See it on your own patch
A short call with the founder, on real sites in the county you work in. About twenty minutes — you will know by the end whether it is any use to you.